


A Little Advice Goes a Long Way

by demoncow97



Category: Persona 5
Genre: But little does he know he's already a great boyfriend, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Ryuji bonds with all the phantom thieves, Ryuji wants to be a good boyfriend, a touch of angst here and there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-10-11 18:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20550491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demoncow97/pseuds/demoncow97
Summary: Akira was always working himself to the bone, and Ryuji had had enough!It was his turn to show Akira just how much he cared, and more importantly, give Akira a proper break. So Ryuji decided he was going to plan the most perfect date of all time. Or as perfect as it could be on his small budget. To do so, he might need some help from his friends.And he might just help them a little in return.





	1. Operation Start!

Ryuji knew how amazing Akira was. Hell, every person who met Akira knew how amazing Akira was. He was smart, charming, brave, a wonderful friend, and an even better boyfriend. Ryuji still didn’t know how he’d managed to snag the most amazing person in all of Tokyo (and probably the whole world), but he wasn’t going to complain.

The thing he would complain about was how much Akira overworked himself and never gave himself a damn break. The stupid dork went overboard in every aspect of his life, including how much he spoiled Ryuji.

Okay maybe that wasn’t something to complain about either, but Ryuji just couldn’t take it anymore.

Akira was always getting him these awesome gifts (which Akira probably worked overtime to afford), take Ryuji to the most goddamn amazing places (which Akira must have spent a bunch of time researching), and always made him feel special in a way he never thought possible.

And Ryuji had had enough!

It was Ryuji’s turn to show Akira just how much he cared, and even more importantly, give Akira a break from all the planning and working and studying and everything else Akira somehow fits into his packed schedule; and Ryuji would stop at nothing to make it happen!

He was going to plan the most perfect date of all time. Or as perfect as it could be on Ryuji’s small budget.

And as determined he was in accomplishing this goal, Ryuji had little confidence in his own ability to plan something worthy of his boyfriend. He knew whatever he planned himself would be much too simple and not nearly romantic enough.

So, he started where any other person would. The Internet.

Unfortunately googling ‘Best Date Ideas’ only resulted in stuff like going to movies, restaurants, or the aquarium. There was nothing wrong with those, but they were a bit too average and not really Best Date Ever worthy; that and of course Akira had already gone with him to all these places.

After that Ryuji had tried to specify his searches, which had also ended poorly. In hindsight, googling ‘Best Ways to Please your Perfect Boyfriend’ had been a disaster waiting to happen. Ryuji now had a cracked screen from throwing his cell phone against a wall when the results had popped up. Luckily, he’d been able to clear the search history before his Mom had come upstairs to see what the problem was.

So, with the never-ending knowledge of the internet failing him, and Ryuji stumped in thinking of a date better than simply grabbing some ramen and playing video games, he knew he’d need to turn somewhere else for advice.

Ryuji had never been one to ask others for help, preferring not to burden people with his own issues, but this was for Akira, and Ryuji would do just about anything if it meant making Akira happy.

So if making Akira happy meant getting uncomfortable romantic advice from one of his friends, then so be it. 

And this was why Ryuji found himself at a small crepe stand in Shibuya on a Sunday, waiting for a certain Ann Takamaki to show up. 

Ryuji grumbled as he looked at his phone for the thousandth time, noting that Ann was now ten minutes late. This usually wouldn’t bother Ryuji too much, but he was feeling extremely out of place with the dozens of couples feeding each other crepes everywhere he looked. 

Trying his best to stay patient, Ryuji took out his phone again to at least look like he wasn’t a total weirdo that was here to people watch or some shit.

“Ryuji!” he finally heard, looking up to spot Ann making her way toward him. 

He pocketed his phone and met her in the crowd of people, using all his mental strength to not shout at the oglers staring inappropriately at his friend. 

“Sorry I’m late, photoshoot went over time,” Ann said, breathing a little heavy, evidence that she’d probably run here from the station.

“S’fine,” Ryuji replied, even though waiting here alone had felt almost as agonizing as a study session with Makoto.

Ann could probably read the uncomfortable look on Ryuji’s face, but didn’t say anything about it.

She then took Ryuji’s hand and pulled him into the crepe line. “Buy me a crepe and we can talk about the mysterious reason you called me here,” Ann said.

“Hell no! Buy your own damn crepe!” Ryuji shouted a bit too loudly, drawing attention to himself once again. 

Thankfully Ann seemed to ignore the looks and murmurs directed at Ryuji, instead unleashing her signature pout. The number of times this pout had been used to get crepes was staggering.

Sighing in exasperation Ryuji relented. “Fine I’ll buy your stupid crepe, but only so we can get outta here.”

“Yay!” Ann cheered, with a victorious look on her face that made Ryuji roll his eyes.

After buying a crepe with all the fixings for Ann, and a drink for himself, the two made their way to a nearby bench, away from the crowded food stands for some breathing room.

Oh god, Ryuji was only just remembering why he was here. Well he was prepared for teasing, and lots of it. At least it was just Ann, who had previously walked him through his many stages of gay panic. This couldn’t be any worse than that, could it?

“Sooooo…” Ann began, having somehow already finished her large crepe and was wiping whip cream from her mouth as she spoke, “what’s up? It must be pretty important if you’re willing to bribe me with crepes.”

Ryuji exhaled, choosing not to answer the taunting. “I need advice about some romantic shit…”

Ann’s eyes went wide before a long smile made its way to her face, and Ryuji knew exactly what that look meant. But before the jokes could start Ryuji quickly added, “you can skip all the shit you’re about to say, I can already tell by the look on your face.”

“Awww Ryuji, I would never tease you about this! Or the time you spilt ketchup all over Akira at that diner and some lady screamed thinking it was blood, or the time you sneezed on Akira when he was coming in for a kiss, or the time when-”

Nope! Ryuji did not need to relive any of his screw ups today. Ryuji had apologized profusely for those incidents, and Akira had just laughed them off, but it didn’t make them any less embarrassing. Ann’s loud laughter sure didn’t help either.

“OKAY, OKAY I get it, I do a lot of stupid shit! But this is serious this time!”

Ann quit laughing at that, sitting a little straighter and face sobering up.

“Sorry Ryuji,” Ann said, not sounding very apologetic, “what’s up?”

“I want to plan the perfect date,” Ryuji responded feeling his determination return. “You know how much Akira overworks himself and shit? Well I thought I’d plan something to give him a break and show how much I care, ya know?”

God, Ryuji could count the number of people he was willing to be this vulnerable around on one hand. Luckily Ann was one of those people. She was understanding, and was there for him when he really needed it, he was lucky to have a friend like her.

Ann looked pensive for a moment, tapping her chin lightly.

“Well first, I’m pretty sure Akira already knows how you feel. It’s not like you’re any good at hiding your emotions Ryuji, anyone who sees the two of you together can see how bad you got it for the guy…” 

Ryuji scoffed, blushing hard but unable to deny anything. Not his fault he wore his heart on his sleeve. Those early days of pining had been a nightmare for everyone involved.

“…but as for an actual date idea, there’s this new café I’ve heard about that sounds really good! I’ve been meaning to go!” Ann finished.

Ryuji deadpanned at that. Of course Ann would just pick a place that sounded good to her.

“C’mon Ann, Akira works at a café, he ain’t gonna want to hang out at some other coffee shop,” Ryuji answered, not super impressed at the suggestion.

“Yeah Akira spends a lot of time at LeBlanc, which is why he might want to try something new. I heard this place specializes in exotic coffees and amazing sweets,” Ann retorted, clearly confident in her idea.

Damn Ann should really join the debate club or something because she somehow always had a backup argument for her ideas. She’d convinced Ryuji of a lot of stupid shit in the past that’s for sure.

“I mean Akira does love coffee, even if it’s really effin’ disgusting. Fine I’ll think about it,” Ryuji relented rather easily. It was a good suggestion worth considering, and it wasn’t like Ryuji had thought of anything better.

“But a coffee date ain’t exactly what I’d call special,” Ryuji continued.

Ann scoffed, “Well it wouldn’t just be the café you dummy; you’d have to take him somewhere after that. And if you really want to impress Akira…”

Ann trailed off, giving time for a dramatic pause.

“What?” Ryuji asked impatiently, knowing full well that Ann wasn’t going to continue until he reacted.

“... Maybe try actually looking presentable for once,” Ann finished, nodding at her own advice.

Well it looked like insult Ryuji hour was just starting up. The topic today: Ryuji’s fashion choices.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryuji questioned defensively.

“I’m just saying the purple hoodie with the mustard stains isn’t really turning any heads,” Ann responded without missing a beat.

Ryuji frowned. Now that he thought about it, Ann wasn’t wrong. He never really dressed up for his dates, in fact the thought had never even crossed his mind. He wore things he liked, that were comfy and easy to move in.

And thinking even more, Akira always looked nice, even in his casual wear. Goddammit Akira! 

Ryuji couldn’t imagine Akira caring that much about what Ryuji wore, but wearing something fancier for once might not be a terrible idea.

“There’s nothing wrong with my hoodie! But even if I did wanna look nice, I can’t afford those fancy clothes you and your model friends wear,” Ryuji said, not wanting to give Ann the satisfaction of him agreeing with her after she had made fun of his wardrobe. 

Ann sighed, clearly exasperated at Ryuji’s words. “Then why don’t you borrow some clothes, not all our friends wear blindingly bright graphic t-shirts you know,” she countered.

Ryuji quickly ran through a list of his friends in his head (which wasn’t a very long list if he was being honest) before coming to his conclusion of who Ann was talking about.

“I can’t just borrow Akira’s clothes to go on a date with him!” Ryuji said, confusion clear on his face.

Ann full on face-palmed at that, much to Ryuji’s annoyance. Besides, he wasn’t here to discuss fashion for an hour, and Ann only had so much time before she had to get to her next shoot. 

“Look...” Ryuji began, “...let’s forget the outfit thing and think up some ideas for-” 

“No! I’m making you wear something nice on your fancy date if it’s the last thing I do!” Ann cut in suddenly. “And I wasn’t talking about Akira’s clothes dumbass, I was talking about Yusuke!”

“Yusuke? His stuff is never gonna fit me!”

“Your sizes can’t be that different. And think about it, wearing one of Yusuke’s nice button downs will flatter your body way more than your baggy shirts! Akira will be speechless,” Ann finished, clearly pleased with her idea.

A speechless Akira would be something Ryuji could totally get behind. The guy was difficult to fluster, or at least he was compared to Ryuji, who found himself blushing at the smallest praise. It’s not like Ryuji got embarrassed or anything, he was just never expecting kind words, or people showing him affection. A side effect of some shitty circumstances he supposed, but things were getting better.

“Fine, I’ll talk to Yusuke, but if his stuff don’t fit you’re gonna owe me one,” Ryuji finally answered. 

Ann gave herself a celebratory high five at her victory. So far she was winning two to nothing in these arguments, not that Ryuji could complain, considering he was reaping the rewards of them anyways.

Ryuji was about to revisit the topic of date ideas when Ann’s phone began to ring.

She shot Ryuji an apologetic look before standing up and walking a small distance out of earshot where she answered her phone. Ryuji understood, he didn’t really like when other people could listen to his phone conversations either.

Ryuji finished his drink, trying to brainstorm some ideas in the meantime, but couldn’t stop imagining how uncomfortable wearing Yusuke’s clothes was going to be.

Usually, depending on who was calling Ann, she could be gone for up to an hour. But to Ryuji’s surprise, the phone call lasted less than a minute.

Ryuji watched Ann silently walking back toward him, and immediately noticed a tight frown on her face.

The first thought that came to mind was something had happened with Shiho, since Ann was being kept in constant contact regarding her recovery.

This caused Ryuji to internally panic a bit, even though the chances of it actually being about Shiho were pretty low. As far as he knew, she’d been making great progress up until now.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ryuji asked, hoping he was wrong, and his brain was just jumping to conclusions.

Before Ann even responded Ryuji caught the fake smile making its way to Ann’s face. She was definitely about to tell him to let it go.

“It’s nothing Ryuji don’t worry, let’s just keep brainstorming about- “

But Ryuji cut her off before she could continue, “Nope, not until you tell me what happened.”

Ann sighed, but didn’t look annoyed at Ryuji pushing the issue. She must have been expecting this kind of reaction from him.

“It was my manager, he booked me two more shoots for this week,” she explained, not sounding too impressed.

Well at least it wasn’t about Shiho. Actually it didn’t sound like a bad thing at all! 

“Isn’t more shoots a good thing?” Ryuji asked.

By the look on Ann’s face, that wasn’t exactly what she was hoping to hear. Ryuji was genuinely confused about the whole thing. Ann had been working her ass off to get all the modelling gigs she had right now, so this was just a product of all that hard work.

But looking at her face now, Ryuji could see a faint darkness under Ann’s eyes, probably hidden by makeup that was starting to wear off.

“It should be a good thing,” Ann started, “but it’s all just getting to be too much right now. I mean I love modelling and everything, I just feel like my manager keeps loading on more and more and I can’t keep up.”

Okay, Ryuji understood the situation now.

“Then why not just tell your manager to lay off for a bit?” he asked.

This time Ann gave an annoyed sigh before she spoke, “You don’t get it Ryuji, if I want to get into this industry, I have to get my image out there!” Ann snapped, but it sounded like it came more from stress than from any real anger.

Ryuji didn’t reply right away, trying to formulate the right words. This was the exact problem he was trying to solve with Akira right now, so maybe if he could convince Ann to take a break before she overdid it, it would be easier to do the same with his boyfriend.

“Ya know, if you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re gonna burn out, and then you won’t be doing any of the things you want. I know how important modelling is to you, but you gotta remember that you got other stuff like school and the phantom thieves too. If you kill yourself with your job, you’re gonna fall behind in everything else too. Not to mention your health is more important than anything!”

Ann looked conflicted, like she wanted to agree with Ryuji’s suggestion but just couldn’t.

“But if I don’t work hard now, how will I ever achieve my dream?”

God why were all Ryuji’s friends so dense about this?

“I’m sayin’ you’re already working crazy hard right now! And you’re just a student. You don’t gotta have your life all put together before you graduate, you gotta enjoy your life a bit too, yeah?”

Ryuji was probably talking a little louder than he should be in a public place, but he didn’t care. Maybe the louder he spoke the more Ann would hear. That was his strategy anyways.

“If your manager isn’t a complete douche, he’ll understand you needing some time to yourself,” Ryuji added, finishing his rant.

Ann seemed to be slowly taking in Ryuji’s words, and thinking them over.

After a minute or two, having still not replied to Ryuji, Ann pulled out her phone and began typing.

Ryuji had no idea what she could be doing. Looking up the next train so she could escape Ryuji’s self care speeches? Texting the others to complain about how Ryuji could never shut his mouth at the right time?

Either way, Ryuji couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he continued to sit awkwardly, fidgeting a little with the empty drink container in his hand.

With a final tap on the screen, Ann finally pocketed her phone.

“And done,” she said, a small triumph in her voice.

Ryuji, having returned to his prior state of confusion, responded with a simple, “What?”

“I texted my manager and said that I can’t fit any more photoshoots in for the rest of the week, including the ones he just called me about” Ann said, “and boy do I feel a lot better now.”

Before Ryuji could reply, Ann placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks Ryuji, I think I really needed to hear that,” Ann said, gratitude clear in her voice.

Ryuji blushed. He hadn’t been expecting that to work so easily. Ann must have been really close to her breaking point if just a few sentences had broken through her usual tight resolve.

“I didn’t really do anything, but I’m glad it worked,” Ryuji replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Maybe if he could get through to Ann, his special date plan might actually be able to get through to Akira (cause talking it over sure hasn’t done anything in Akira’s case). However, Ryuji was aware that even though Ann was stubborn in her own right, Akira was a whole other monster.

That boy held the world on his shoulders and didn’t want to burden anyone else with the weight.

Stuck in his thoughts, Ryuji hardly noticed Ann get to her feet, stretching out a bit as she did so.

Ann clapped her hands together to get Ryuji’s attention before speaking.

“I’m so sorry Ryuji, but I actually have to get going now, I kind of lost track of time,” she explained, picking up her purse and throwing it over her shoulder.

“What?!?” Ryuji all but yelled, standing up a little too quickly. 

Ryuji had been aware that Ann could only be here for so long, but it felt like Ann had only just got here. Their heart to heart must have taken longer than he’d thought (not that he would have wanted to keep date planning with Ann being upset like she was.)

Ann couldn’t leave, they hadn’t actually planned any of the important stuff yet! If Ryuji was gonna dress up, he probably had to take Akira somewhere nice, and fancy places were waaayyyy outside his realm of expertise. This expertise included things like reading manga and going to the arcade, and he might get some weird looks if he showed up in a freakin suit to play DDR.

“I’m sorry Ryuji, we can discuss later if you still need help. But how about you start off with the café idea and getting a nice outfit, and see where it goes from there?” Ann said sounding guilty. “I wish I could help more.”

“Hey, no, it’s fine,” Ryuji added quickly. The last thing he wanted was for Ann to feel bad when she’d taken time to help his useless ass with his own problems. “Thanks for your help.”

“No worries, and don’t worry Ryuji, I’m sure you’ll come up with something to sweep Akira off his tired feet,” Ann smiled at that and gave a small wave as she turned to head out.

Ryuji shot her a thumbs up in response, not sure he really filled the role of knight in shining armor that well. He was a thief after all. Well, they all were.

“Let me know how it goes, and who knows, maybe Yusuke can help you out when you see him?” Ann called as she headed back toward the train station.

“Yeah, we’ll see I guess…” Ryuji muttered to himself, as Ann was already out of earshot.

Well at least he had somewhere to start he supposed. It was better than nothing.

Ryuji shot a quick text to Yusuke asking if they could meet at his dorm later today, hoping for a quick response so Ryuji could plan the rest of his Sunday.

Part one of operation Best Date Ever was in motion. His planned due date was one week from today. Plenty of time to get all the details sorted.

Or so Ryuji hoped.


	2. Gotta Dress the Part

The train ride to Yusuke’s dorms wasn’t long, but sitting on a bus when there was so much to plan felt like torture to Ryuji. When he got off at the correct stop Ryuji pulled out his phone, using Google Map instructions to get to his destination.

Yusuke had sent him some directions when he’d replied to Ryuji’s text, saying he was free all day, but Ryuji trusted Google more than his artist friend.

The brisk walk to the dorm buildings was fairly fast, the streets filled with mostly students who seemed to be going to and from their housing. Ryuji noticed quickly how posh many of them looked. They just screamed fancy art school.

When he did arrive, Ryuji had to take a few minutes to observe the place.

Ryuji had never been to the Kosei dorms before and while he’d been expecting fancy, the tall pristinely white building before him was a step beyond his imagination. 

Maybe it was the fact that Yusuke was the starving art student that had Ryuji thinking the dorms would be more like a basic apartment complex. But the building looked like an expensive hotel more than anything, nothing he’d ever associate with the hell that is high school.

And maybe the weirdest part to Ryuji, was that there was nothing ‘artistic’ about the place. No colour, no fancy architecture shaping, just a sleek white rectangle with windows.

But then again, Ryuji didn’t really understand art so maybe this place was the new Mona Lisa or some shit.

Ryuji shot a text to Yusuke saying that he’d arrived and was waiting in front of the building for Yusuke to come and get him.

Thinking about it now, Ryuji had never really spent any one on one time with Yusuke. It wasn’t like he didn’t like the guy. Yusuke was a cool dude, kind of hard to talk to at times, but he had a way to stay calm in tough situations that Ryuji really admired. And the fact that Yusuke had gotten into a place this fancy looking on a scholarship only made Ryuji admire him more.

“Ryuji I’m glad you were able to make it,” Yusuke announced as he opened the front doors to the dorm building.

“Hey dude! Sorry ‘bout the short notice but thanks for letting me come over,” Ryuji said, making his way over to Yusuke.

“It was no trouble. I have been having a hard time concentrating on my work today as a matter of fact, so this is a welcome distraction” Yusuke nodded before leading Ryuji into the building. 

The entrance hall was just as white and clean as the outside. The walls were bare aside from a few framed paintings, but even then, the art was on the smaller side and took up little space.

“Fancy place ya got here,” Ryuji remarked. 

“I suppose,” Yusuke shrugged. “I find Leblanc or even Shujin to be much more inspiring, they have a much greater life to them.”

Ryuji didn’t reply, not really knowing how to answer. He supposed white walls wouldn’t be all that fun to paint, even Ryuji could do that.

The main entrance way of the dorm building seemed to be comprised of a hallway leading to what Ryuji assumed were dorm rooms, a door to a stairwell which probably also led to student rooms, and a large sitting area comprised of several couches, chairs and a large table at the centre.

Ryuji noticed a few students sitting and chatting by the couches, who appeared to be watching him and Yusuke. A brown-haired boy seemed to make direct eye contact with Yusuke before whispering to his friend who began snickering in response. 

God was nowhere safe from assholes anymore?

“Do you know those dicks?” Ryuji asked.

Getting to Yusuke’s room could wait. Ryuji remembered Yusuke briefly mentioning how he didn’t fit in very well with his classmates, but if these shits were bullying him, then Ryuji was putting a stop to that here and now.

“Ah yes, they live on the same floor as me and we share a few classes. And I suppose while I do not agree with your word choice, they are indeed ‘dicks’ as you put it.”

Well that was all Ryuji needed to start stomping towards the assholes, who quickly shut up as they noticed him approaching. 

“Hey! You guys got something to say, say it to our faces!” Ryuji snapped, causing the kids to go pale. 

Sometimes Ryuji was thankful for his punkish style, it made it much easier to seem threatening.

“N-no, we were just discussing some homework,” the brown-haired kid answered, his friends nodding alongside him.

“Well, if I ever hear you said shit about my friend again, you won’t be getting off with a warning,” Ryuji warned. “And make sure to spread this message to any other of your dickweed friends.”

Without waiting for a response, Ryuji shot them a glare and stalked back over to Yusuke, who now had a noticeable smile on his face.

“I am grateful Ryuji, but I do not believe that was strictly necessary,” Yusuke said, but the smile on his face betrayed him slightly.

“You’re lucky I didn’t kiss their asses,” Ryuji replied. “Let me know if anyone messes with you again, ‘kay?”

“With the looks on their faces, I do not believe that will be an issue. The pure fear you managed to stir up has provided me with new facial references though, so I will thank you.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes before gesturing for Yusuke to lead them up the stairwell.

They made their way up to Yusuke’s dorm in silence, which was all the way of the fifth floor Ryuji may add. And while he may consider himself to be in decent shape (nowhere near where he was during his peak when he was on the track team), it was taking way more effort than he’d admit to reach the top without visibly panting.

Entering Yusuke’s room, Ryuji was surprised by how unsurprised he was. The room was covered in art supplies, canvasses spread all over the floor of the small room, different tubes of paints on every surface, and almost no white walls to be seen!

This was much more what Ryuji was expecting from Yusuke’s dorms.

“So you mentioned in your message that you wanted to borrow some clothes,” Yusuke began. “May I ask why?”

Ryuji sighed, plopping himself down on Yusuke’s one lonely chair. “I’m trying to plan a special date for Akira, and Ann thought I should dress nicer.”

While still a little embarrassing to be asking for help with this stuff, it was surprisingly easy to ask Yusuke for his help. Maybe it was because, unlike Ann, Yusuke wasn’t going to tease the hell out of him.

“I see, and is there an occasion in which you are celebrating?” Yusuke asked, hand on his chin as if deliberating something.

“Nah, I just wanna do something for him, since he’s always doing special stuff for me, ya know,” Ryuji blushed a little.

Yusuke nodded and made his way toward a small closet in the corner of the room, peering through its contents. 

Ryuji waited as Yusuke cycled through the clothes of which Ryuji noticed there weren’t many. (If the guy spent money on paint instead of food, there was no way he was gonna buy himself a bunch of clothes.)

Yusuke returned with a navy-blue button-down long sleeve and some black dress pants.

“I was given this shirt by Madarame a year ago, but it was always a tad big on me, so it should fit you,” Yusuke explained.

Ryuji startled at that. “You kept this even though it’s from your shitstain of a master?” Ryuji questioned, probably a bit more harshly then he’d meant to.

Yusuke gave the slightest wince at the words, making Ryuji regret opening his big mouth. “Hey man, I’m sorry. You don’t gotta explain nothin’ to me, I just thought keeping something like this would bring up bad memories.”

Yusuke didn’t respond right away, leaving Ryuji tense in his seat, hoping he hadn’t messed up too bad. God, Yusuke was nice enough to help him out and all Ryuji had done was stir up some painful feelings.

After what felt like an eternity Yusuke finally spoke. “Sensei had given me this shirt knowing I didn’t have the means to get any myself; it was an act of kindness. So, I suppose keeping it serves to remind me of some of the good Sensei did for me, not only the bad…”

Ryuji scowled a bit. Madarame wasn’t worth any sort of redemption in his eyes, but he wasn’t going to argue with Yusuke’s feelings. If it was him though, he would have burned anything that so much reminded him of Madarame.

“...that and it would be a waste to throw out a perfectly good shirt,” Yusuke added.

For a moment Ryuji simply stared at Yusuke before he burst into laughter. Now that was an answer Ryuji could get behind.

Yusuke watched Ryuji, looking a tad perplexed. “Do you still want to borrow the clothes?” Yusuke asked, clearly not understanding what Ryuji found so funny.

Ryuji coughed, trying to calm himself, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Yeah, do you mind if I try them on?” Ryuji asked, getting a nod from Yusuke in response.

Ryuji got changed in Yusuke’s depressingly small bathroom. Surprisingly, the shirt fit rather well, and while the pants were a bit tight, they were still wearable and nicer than anything he had.

It was weird, seeing himself without his usual bright colours and loose-fitting clothes. He didn’t look bad, but Ryuji definitely didn’t feel like himself. Well, if this was a one-time thing then Ryuji could live with it, and he hoped the look on Akira’s face would be worth it.

Ryuji opened the bathroom door and stepped out to get Yusuke’s opinion. Knowing how unbearably honest Yusuke could be, if Ryuji did look like an idiot, Yusuke would tell him.

“Well?” Ryuji prompted.

Yusuke in turn, brought his hands up in his trademark photoshoot pose he used whenever analyzing something that caught his eye. It left Ryuji feeling a tad self-conscious at being examined so closely.

“C’mon man, you’re killin’ me here,” Ryuji groaned, tugging at the buttons on his shirt in an attempt to loosen it.

Instead of responding Yusuke began to circle Ryuji, gaze thoughtful.

“Dude, if it’s that weird then I’ll just go change,” Ryuji said forcing an uncomfortable laugh to fill the quiet room.

But just as Ryuji was about to retreat, Yusuke finally spoke up.

“The fabric is able to silhouette your torso and also frame your biceps rather well. The clear outline of your muscles is much better looking than the blob your typical clothing make of you. And as someone who has noticed Akira staring very often at your behind, I believe he would enjoy the way the pants fit as well. A brown or maroon shirt would complement your eyes better though I’m afraid. And if you-”

“OKAY!” Ryuji cut Yusuke off, blushing at all the talk of his body and… you know what he didn’t want to think anymore. “A ‘you look good’ would’ve been fine, ya don’t need to write me a novel.”

“My apologies,” Yusuke said with a slight bow of the head. “If it of any worth, I do believe Akira will appreciate the clothing.”

Ryuji scratched the back of his head, trying to hide his embarrassment. Man, this whole thing better be worth it for everything he was going through.

“Thanks for you help man,” Ryuji smiled, pretty sure his face was still red.

“It is no problem, like I said before, that shirt does not fit me anyways. Just make sure to wash it before returning it to me.”

If that was a jab at the way he smelled, Ryuji didn’t notice, he was too happy with the progress he was making in his mission. Akira’ll never see it comin, this would be the ultimate surprise!

“If I may ask,” Yusuke began, “what is the plan for the rest of this special date?”

Oh shit. The small victory of securing an outfit had made Ryuji forget all about, you know, the actual date itself! He might as well trade in his newly acquired clothes for a clown suit, cause that’s how he was feeling right about now.

“Shit dude, I don’t really have a whole plan yet, a café to start maybe? I’m not good at all this planning stuff!” Ryuji lamented. “I’ve always gone with my gut, but it’s not really helpin’ me out right now, what should I do?”

He couldn’t ask Ann again, she just came clean about having too much on her plate. Sure she had cancelled some of the shoots, but Ryuji wasn’t gonna fill up her newly acquired free time with his shit.

Ryuji had already asked Akira to clear his Sunday schedule, which was a week from today. And if someone thought Ann was busy, they should see Akira’s schedule. With all his jobs, and school, and friends it was almost impossible for Ryuji to get Akira to himself for a whole day. Not that he blamed the guy, it was amazing he could juggle so much. Actually, the amount his boyfriend took upon himself was enough for Ryuji to worry for his well being, a topic he has to bring up with Akira a stupid number of times each month.

So yeah, Ryuji needed a plan and needed it soon. But how the hell was he gonna figure out what to do?

“If I am remembering correctly, Makoto has been talking about how she is learning to enjoy herself as a student nowadays. I believe she has been frequenting various outing locations for the first time, she might be worth asking?” Yusuke said, cutting through Ryuji’s spiralling thoughts. 

Makoto is definitely not someone Ryuji would ever consider asking for romantic advice. Nothing against her or anything, but she could be pretty intimidating at times. Not to mention she was the freakin’ student council president and probably had better things to do. 

Ryuji was starting to notice how much busier his friends were compared to him, and wasn’t sure how to feel about that. 

“You sure dude? I dunno if she’d have the time to help me even if she wanted to,” Ryuji stated.

Yusuke shrugged. “You won’t know unless you ask, I suppose.”

Ryuji sighed in defeat. Without any other ideas he supposed trying to meet up with Makoto wouldn’t hurt (unless she somehow roped him into helping with council stuff, that kind of thing was a thousand times more painful than taking a shadow attack to the face.)

“You’re right Yusuke, I can’t give in this easy!” Ryuji proclaimed, patting Yusuke on the shoulder in thanks.

“You are nothing if not persistent Ryuji, I’m sure Akira will be happy with whatever you think up.”

After sputtering at the kind words for a moment, Ryuji returned to the washroom to change back into his original clothes. Man, he’d only been wearing those clothes for fifteen minutes and he was already super relieved to be back in his t-shirt and baggy pants.

Ryuji stuffed Yusuke’s clothes into the backpack he had brought with him and hoped they wouldn’t wrinkle too bad, because he had never ironed anything a day in his life.

“Would you care for a cup of tea before you depart?” Yusuke asked as Ryuji returned, having noticed the backpack strapped to Ryuji’s shoulder as a sign he was about to head out.

Yusuke opened a cupboard above his kitchen sink to show a singular box of cheap green tea bags.

“Uh, I think I’ll pass this time dude, but thanks anyways,” Ryuji declined, feeling too guilty to take any of Yusuke’s limited food supply. “But we should definitely hit up a beef bowl place sometime, my treat as thanks for the clothes!”

“I would be happy to take you up on the offer,” Yusuke agreed. “Perhaps you could wear this outfit to that as well so to look more presentable.”

Wait did Yusuke just make a joke? And one at Ryuji’s expense? He was clearly spending too much time with the rest of the phantom thieves.

“Hell no dude! I’m goin’ on a fancy date with Akira, not you!”

Yusuke chuckled at that and bid Ryuji farewell, who made his way to the train station at a quick pace. He had to get home to feed his ma after all.

Getting there right as the train arrived, Ryuji got himself a seat before pulling out his phone.

He shot a quick text to Makoto and spent the rest of the time sending outdated cat memes to Akira. Akira always liked to reply with terrible pick up lines that made Ryuji laugh only by how terrible they were. He would never tell Akira he liked them though, that just spelled disaster.

Is this what a romantic relationship was supposed to be like? Or maybe it was true that romance really was dead.

Well…Not if Ryuji could help it


	3. Planning Perfection

Ryuji sat in class, eyes glued to the clock. The teacher’s lecture only served as background noise for him at this point, which was typical for the last class of the day anyways. Although it did feel a little different today, considering there was now only ten minutes before his secret meeting with Makoto.

He couldn’t believe how quickly Makoto had replied to him saying she could meet Monday after school. He’d thought for sure he’d have to book a special appointment for next month or something, not be able to meet the very next day. To be honest, it hadn’t given Ryuji enough time to mentally prepare for the whole ordeal.

Ryuji used to think someone like Makoto was his opposite in every way. She was smart, respected, and had a successful future ahead of her. Sure, Ryuji had gotten to know her better since she’d joined the phantom thieves, but it was still difficult not to compare himself to someone as cool as her. 

That might be one of the reasons Ryuji was feeling a bit nervous, as well as the whole ‘planning the perfect date thing’ (but he only had himself to blame for that one.)

When the bell finally rang, Ryuji was out of the room before the teacher could even announce the homework assignment. Oh well, he could ask someone about it later. Or maybe he’d forget and get yelled at. 

That was probably more likely.

Speed walking toward the student council room, Ryuji noticed Mishima and some other students giving him weird looks. Ryuji supposed it would look weird for him, the school delinquent, to go to the student council room willingly, but whatever. People spread rumours about all kinds of stupid shit, this wouldn’t be any different.

When he reached the room, Ryuji paused in front of it to catch his breath. He took one large inhale before closing his eyes and turning the doorknob.

“Hey Makoto, thanks for meeting with me, I-” Ryuji cut himself off as he opened his eyes and realized Makoto was not the only one in the room.

“Oh Ryuji, what are you doing here?”

Fuck.

This was definitely not part of the plan.

But there he stood in his full school uniform and stupidly cute glasses that matched the stupidly cute smile on his face.

Akira wasn’t supposed to be here. Any other time Ryuji would’ve been ecstatic at the encounter, but for the first time ever, Akira was the last person he wanted to see.

Actually, there were still a lot of people who could be worse: Kamoshida, his deadbeat dad, effin’ Akechi… but anyways, this still wasn’t a good time.

“Oh, hey Akira… I was just… umm…” Ryuji paused, trying to come up with an excuse.

“I asked him here to discuss his grades,” Makoto cut in. And as much as Ryuji hated talking about school and his terrible marks, that was a master move on Makoto’s part. He owed her double now.

“Umm yeah, she was gonna help me study or something…”

Okay maybe he should shut up now before he ruins the lifeline Makoto threw him.

“Yes, so I’m sorry about this Akira but we will have to plan for another day,” Makoto apologized to Akira, who looked a mixture of confused and suspicious.

Akira turned his inquisitive gaze Ryuji’s way, as if Ryuji held the answers to this odd interaction. 

After a second Akira smiled and nodded, “No problem Makoto, we’ll find another time. But Ryuji, if you wanted help, you could’ve just asked me.”

Oh no, Akira was using his pouty face, the face he used when he wanted an extra kiss before Ryuji went home after hanging out. He was trying to get Ryuji to spill the truth of what was really going on.

But Ryuji had to stay strong.

“Ah, sorry dude, I knew you were real busy this week or I would of asked you for sure. Next time though, okay?”

“It’s a date,” Akira winked like the dork he was. 

Ryuji rolled his eyes.

“Although I’m still impressed. I’ve never seen you study unless you were cramming last minute for a test,” Akira continued, not letting up just yet.

Ryuji could feel the sweat dripping from his brow now. God why couldn’t Akira just let it go?

“I’m afraid that’s my doing once again,” Makoto answered. “This is less of a suggestion and more of mandatory session.”

Damn Makoto sure was good at this.

“Yeah! And we should probably get started so I can get this over with,” Ryuji said quickly, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

Akira opened his mouth as if to retort once again but stopped before any words left his mouth.

Ryuji felt like he was on the edge of his seat. He didn’t know if he could keep this up, especially if Akira kept his onslaught of questions going.

But, as if he could sense Ryuji’s internal panic, Akira let up.

“Fine, I will leave and work myself to death, abandoned by my friend and my boyfriend. It will be a struggle to make it to tomorrow,” Akira said dramatically, clutching his heart for dramatic effect. “If only I could get a kiss to help make it through these troubled times.”

Sometimes after long days in a palace or mementos, Ryuji got used to Akira’s cool Joker mode. The trusted and amazing leader who could take on anything that came at him and was so trusted by his teammates, that no one would dare question his orders. 

But times like this reminded Ryuji of what a dork his boyfriend really was. Sometimes he couldn’t believe he loved this guy.

“Fine, but you don’t gotta be so extra about it, jeez,” Ryuji blushed and gave Akira a peck on the cheek. They were still at school, so he wasn’t gonna do anything crazy.

“I suppose this will sustain me enough to make it to tomorrow,” Akira said, finally making his way to leave. But just before he opened the door, he turned around and announced, “and I’m afraid that yes, I must be this extra.”

Ryuji sighed in relief as the door shut behind Akira, face still red. He turned around and made eye contact with Makoto, who had an amused expression on her face.

Oh god he’d totally forgotten she was here. Whelp, that’s another one for the list of embarrassing shit that Ryuji subjected himself to.

“Uh, sorry ‘bout that,” Ryuji apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s fine Ryuji. It’s not like I wasn’t used to the two of you flirting,” Makoto confessed. “It was much more unbearable when neither of you realized you were flirting with each other in the first place.”

Ann already reminded Ryuji enough of the embarrassment of all his early pining, he didn’t need Makoto to join the roast Ryuji club too. 

Luckily Makoto seemed ready to change the subject to the topic at hand.

“So, in your text you said you wanted some suggestions for date ideas. I admit I’m rather surprised you asked me of all people. I thought this would be more in Ann’s wheelhouse?”

“Well I asked Ann too, but we didn’t really get anywhere on the main ideas for the actual date,” Ryuji confessed.

“I see,” Makoto answered, looking thoughtful. “Well hopefully I can still help you somehow…”

Makoto seemed reluctant in a way Ryuji didn’t really understand, maybe even anxious. But why would she be anxious about something like this?

“Hey, you’re like a genius Makoto! I’m sure we’ll figure something out with your help,” Ryuji proclaimed, clenching his fist. 

But instead of pumping Makoto up like he’d intended, she kept a stoic look on her face that Ryuji couldn’t quite read. If he were to guess, it almost looked a little sad.

“But…” Makoto paused for a moment. “Don’t you think I’m too boring to help plan a fun date?”

That caught Ryuji off guard. The usual Makoto was a confident, strong Queen who could stand up to gangsters and shadows alike. 

“Boring? Dude you’re like a total badass. You think a boring person rides motorcycles and joins a secret team of thieves who steals hearts?” Ryuji questioned, still in disbelief

“Never mind Ryuji it’s fine, I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“You don’t gotta be sorry, just say what’s on your mind,” Ryuji pushed.

Makoto took a moment like she was considering whether to speak up or not before sighing.

“It’s just… I’m the robotic student council president who spends all her time studying right? I’m not equipped to help plan a fun day for you and Akira,” Makoto admitted, looking down at her feet, ashamed of what she’d just revealed. “Until this year, I’d never been to an arcade or even Shibuya.”

Ryuji waited a moment, making sure he let Makoto finish before responding.

He knew a thing or two about feeling like he wasn’t good enough, and he’d be damned if he let Makoto feel the same.

“Ya know Makoto, before I met you, I did kinda think you were like that if I’m bein’ honest,” Ryuji admitted, noticing Makoto tense up. “But it just shows how damn hardworking and focused you are! It’s awesome! And even I can tell you’re working hard to loosen up and have fun too, so don’t be so down on yourself.”

Makoto looked up and met Ryuji’s determined expression.

“I don’t always think that much before I do stuff, but that’s your specialty! So, if anyone is gonna be able to think and help me plan this date, you’re at the top of the list!” Ryuji finished.

Man, Ryuji was not expecting this when he woke up this morning. He knew he wasn’t the best with his words, so hopefully he didn’t say anything stupid. It’d been easier reassuring Ann considering he was a lot closer with her. With Makoto, Ryuji was much more uncertain if he was actually just making things worse.

Suddenly Makoto started to shake a little, which Ryuji realized was because she trying to stop herself from laughing. She held her hand over mouth to muffle the sound, but Ryuji could hear it loud and clear.

Well, that seemed like a clear sign that yes, what Ryuji had just said was pretty stupid.

“You know what, I’ll just go…” Ryuji said, turning around to leave the student council room.

Why couldn’t he do something right for a change? This is why he didn’t want to ask anyone for help to begin with.

Before Ryuji could reach the door he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry Ryuji I didn’t mean to laugh,” Makoto said, a slight chuckle still in her voice, “I just wasn’t expecting you to say all that.”

“Yeah, my bad… I ain’t always the best with words-”

“No! I mean that it meant a lot to me, thank you,” Makoto said dipping her head slightly in thanks. 

“B-but the laughing…”

“I was only laughing because I felt relieved. Sorry I confused you.”

Ryuji gaped at Makoto, his mind trying to catch up with what was happening. Why was Makoto thanking him? All he’d done was blurt out the first thing that had come to mind. This was almost as confusing as his last math assignment. But nothing was quite that confusing; trig identities could suck his dick. 

Oh shit, Makoto was probably waiting for him to respond! 

“Uh, well it’s no big deal really.”

Makoto simply nodded, a smile still on her face. She then went and sat down at the table situated in the middle of the room, gesturing to the adjacent seat for Ryuji to join her.

He sat down without a word, having a hard time reading the atmosphere, which was usually one of his strong suits. Maybe it was because he’d been thrown off by this unexpected side of Makoto. Well she seemed happy now, and that’s all that really mattered.

“Umm, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around telling people about my… insecurities,” Makoto said before the date planning could begin.

“Of course not! I swear I’d never tell anyone, not that you have anything to be embarrassed about in the first place,” Ryuji affirmed.

Ryuji knew he wasn’t great at keeping secrets, but he’d never go around telling people about something so personal, even to his friends.

With that, all signs of Makoto’s nerves seemed to disappear, replaced by her usual self-assurance. 

As much as Ryuji had always been jealous of Makoto’s confidence and abilities, he was glad to see her back to normal. Ryuji knew his little speech wouldn’t clear away Makoto’s self-doubts entirely, but he was glad it did something.

“When I received your message yesterday, I actually started doing some research and came up with a couple ideas, which I’ve sorted by price on this spreadsheet,” Makoto said, wasting no time now that their little bonding moment seemed to be over.

She pulled a couple sheets of paper from her bag and placed on the table. 

And if this was only ‘a couple ideas’ Ryuji would be terrified to see what Makoto could find in more than a day. 

To think Makoto was stressed she wouldn’t be able to help when she’d already made a big ass list with plenty of date plans on it.

At the top of the list were the expensive ideas, including a couple of restaurants Ryuji had seen people praise on TV, some cool excursions like skydiving and scuba diving, and a spa package for two. But Ryuji didn’t even need to see those prices to know they were way outside his price range.

“Yeah, I think we’re gonna have to stick with the ones at the bottom of the list, I ain’t exactly swimming in cash right now.”

“Okay, we can work with that,” Makoto nodded, taking away the sheet of paper with the higher priced ideas, and pushing a different paper Ryuji’s way.

“I put some generic restaurants on here, but if you’re trying to save money then a home-cooked meal would probably work better for the dining aspect of the date. I’m thinking we should focus more on some kind of activity as a highlight versus a dinner,” Makoto continued pointing out some ideas on the list. “You like staying active, there are some nice hikes if you’re willing to take an hour train or so.”

Hmmm, hiking did sound fun and something a bit more special, but Ryuji wasn’t that stupid. He knew his leg wasn’t strong enough for hiking right now, and he could foresee the disaster already. He’d hurt his leg, Akira would try to play his knight in shining armour and attempt to carry him down the mountain, probably fall at some point because Ryuji knows he’s pretty heavy, and then Makoto would be planning funerals instead of dates.

“Yeah I’m gonna have to pass on that one,” Ryuji said, eyes still raking over the list. 

“What about the planetarium?” Makoto suggested.

“Nah, I know Akira likes to go there with Yusuke, but I’d rather see real stars than some lights.”

“Okay, do any of these stand out to you then?” Makoto asked.

Ryuji continued to look over the list. “What’s this one?”

Ryuji pointed at one of the ideas that simply said ‘Boat.’

“Oh, well I know from Akira that the two of you have gone fishing at Ishigaya pond in the past, so I thought you could rent a boat somewhere and do some fishing,” Makoto explained.

“Hey, that could be good! But the only place to rent a boat is that tiny lake at the park, and that’d be too simple,” Ryuji said, trying to piece together something in his head.

“I think if you planned enough, it could still be special,” Makoto said. “I believe a romantic date is more about the little details.”

Ryuji still wasn’t convinced. He’d gone to that park plenty of times, with school even! And there weren’t really any other nice lakes close by.

Maybe if they went to the café Ann suggested first and then fishing? Wouldn’t that just be a normal date though?

“How would you do it then?” Ryuji asked.

Before responding, Makoto pulled a notebook, a pencil, and a pack of highlighters from her bag. Damn, talk about prepared for any situation. Sometimes Ryuji forgot his notebook and had to take notes on hands. On hot days when you’re really sweaty, that doesn’t work too well.

“Well, I’d rent a canoe in the morning at the park, and start the date in the late afternoon, that way there would be less people there. Fish for a couple hours and have a picnic dinner in the park. You could make Akira’s favourite food, or pick up some desserts he likes,” Makoto explained, seemingly having planned the whole thing out.

Ryuji paused, contemplating the idea. It wasn’t bad, they both liked fishing and he could easily make a nice supper for the two of them, but was it enough?

“Don’t you think it’s missing something?” Ryuji said mimicking his thoughts.

“Well on your budget, which is hardly anything I might add, I think it’s a good plan. If you really want to add something, how about some dancing?”

“What!?” Ryuji sputtered. “You want me to dance for him? He’s just gonna die of laughter if I do that.”

Makoto sighed, slight annoyance laced in her tone. “I meant you could dance together, bring some music and just slow dance a little. If anything, that should make the evening romantic enough for you.”

Ryuji gulped. He supposed slow dancing was considered romantic, and Akira had told him how sad he was that they couldn’t go to prom together next year. But that didn’t change the fact that Ryuji couldn’t dance! If Ryuji wanted Akira to laugh, he would take Akira to a comedy show or something.

“And before you tell me you don’t know how to dance,” Makoto cut in, reading Ryuji’s thoughts, “I happen to know Haru is a fantastic dancer and I’m sure she’d love to teach you.”

“B-but,” Ryuji stammered.

“Look, unless you have a better idea, which I doubt considering you asked for my help, I think this has the potential to be the special date you’re trying to go for,” Makoto said. “And honestly, knowing all the effort you’re putting into this, I’m sure Akira will find it special too.”

It was hard to believe that just a little earlier, Makoto had been lacking confidence in her ability to plan a fun date. Right now, she seemed so sure of herself and of this plan. Maybe that was why this plan sounded pretty good right now. 

If Ryuji wore his fancy outfit and took Akira to Ann’s café along with Makoto’s plan, well maybe the date could turn out how he imagined. And if Haru could make it so Ryuji didn’t completely embarrass himself while dancing, then that would be even better. It was completely out of his comfort zone, but with Akira, Ryuji felt like he could do anything. Even if that anything was slow dancing.

“You’re right Makoto. I can make this the best effin date anyone’s ever been on!!!” Ryuji proclaimed loudly, standing for added effect.

Makoto smiled sincerely at his enthusiasm before handing Ryuji the draft date plan.

“Well I guess you better start getting everything together then,” she said as she began to pack away the rest of her belongings.

Ryuji smiled widely. 

“Thanks for all your help today Queen! You’re the best!” Ryuji said before running out of the room, having too much energy to sit still any longer.

Things were gonna work out, Ryuji had been too caught up in planning something huge to realize he could make something small just as special. 

Making it outside the school, Ryuji looked at the time and realized he’d missed his train. Well running home would surely help him work off all this pent-up energy. And maybe the movement would help prepare him for dancing.

Scratch that, nothing could prepare him for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited for more Ryuji and Makoto bonding in P5R! They could be such good friends!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos give me life.


	4. The Ultimate Stat Boost

The first thing Ryuji did after waking up Tuesday morning, was check his phone to see if Haru had replied to his dance lesson request.

And while she had responded, it seemed she was busy today and wasn’t going to be available until tomorrow.

Well Ryuji could still work with that, his leg was a little sore from running yesterday, so resting it might be a good idea.

Putting his phone down, Ryuji went through his typical morning routine, which involved only giving himself 15 minutes to get ready after waking up before he had to leave to catch the train.

To be honest, ever since joining the phantom thieves, Ryuji had been a lot more conscious about getting to school on time. Sure, he still wasn’t anywhere near being a good student, but he wasn’t ditching like he was at the start of the year. Being part of something like the phantom thieves just made him want to do better (if only his grades reflected this change in attitude.)

After he was dressed, Ryuji grabbed his backpack along with a piece of toast for the road. He munched on his breakfast as he made his way to the station, refusing to carry the toast in his mouth even if it’d be easier that way. He was not gonna become the typical high school girl anime protagonist.

The train station was as busy as ever when he arrived, filled with equal parts students going to school and adults on their way to work. Fellow Shujin students were always easy to spot, considering the red plaid of their pant uniform.

But Ryuji wasn’t looking for plaid pants, he was looking for a mess of wavy black hair and bag that held an annoying cat in it.

It had become a habit for Ryuji to look for Akira in the crowd of commuters every morning, and today was no different. Sitting on the train is so boring alone, and if Ryuji was gonna be squished into a tight space, he’d prefer to be squished up against his boyfriend. Okay that sounded weird, but it wasn’t like he wanted to make-out with Akira on the train, he’d just rather have someone he knows in his personal space.

Making out was reserved for a more private setting.

However, it looked like this morning Ryuji was gonna be travelling alone, as the boarding had already begun and there was no luck on the search front.

Ryuji shuffled into the train with the rest of the crowd, grabbing the overhead bar firmly with one hand and getting his phone out of his pocket with the other.

While he’d been reminded multiple times by Makoto that he could spend his commute time reading or studying, seven in the morning was way too early for any sort of learning to be done. Ryuji would stick to scrolling through his phone thank you very much.

Before Ryuji even unlocked his phone, he noticed a notification from Futaba of all people.

**>>I know your secret and I want in!**

Umm, what the flying fuck? That had to be the most ominous message Ryuji had ever received.

If this was Futaba trying to freak him out, she was doing a bang-up job.

Ryuji began to type a response, when the train made a harsh jerk as it started to move. And Ryuji being Ryuji, had let go of the overhead railing in favor of answering the mysterious text. This all meant that Ryuji was currently falling backwards into the person behind him.

“Shit!” Ryuji swore as he landed firmly against the person behind him. At least he was still upright.

“Watch what you’re doing kid!” the man, who Ryuji noticed was probably in his forties with dark hair, rectangular glasses, and also weirdly familiar, scolded angrily.

Ryuji was about to apologize when he realized why this guy was so familiar. It was Mr. Ushimaru, the social studies teacher.

Muttering a quick “sorry” Ryuji turned away as quickly as possible as to not be noticed by the strict teacher.

“Wait… you’re Sakamoto, aren't you?”

Well shit.

“I guess you pay about as much attention to my lectures as you do to the people around you,” Mr. Ushimaru complained loudly, gathering attention from some of the surrounding passengers.

Double shit. God this was gonna be the worst morning ever, and there wasn’t even anywhere to escape to, just this cramped train.

“I’m sorry,” Ryuji repeated, although with less sincerity now that his teacher was just straight up complaining about him to his face.

Mr. Ushimaru clicked his tongue with a small “kids these days” and thankfully left Ryuji alone after that.

With one hand firmly on the railing now, Ryuji took out his phone again, although with less urgency this time and finished his text.

**<<What are you talking about?!?!**

In less than a minute Futaba had already responded.

**>>I’ll explain later, meet me after school at LeBlanc’s. Don’t worry Akira won’t be there ;)**

Ryuji sputtered a bit at that, still a bit peeved that Futaba had inadvertently gotten him in trouble before school had even started.

**<<What if I already got plans?**

**>>We both know you don’t have any plans, so stop pretending you have a social life. OOOOO AND BRING YOUR WALLET! K thanks ;P**

Ryuji so badly wanted to argue that yes, he had a social life, it just happened to only involve people Futaba already knew and was like six people max.

**<<Fine**

It was too early to bring up the fact that Futaba’s social life was just as bad as his, and the train had arrived anyways. Time for another day in the paradise that was Shujin Academy

***

Today had been even worse than usual, mainly because of a brutal pop quiz from Mr. Ushimaru that was meant to ‘teach the kids a lesson’ (Ryuji got the feeling that this was somehow related to the train incident.)

Arriving at LeBlanc felt different knowing Akira wasn’t gonna be there. Ryuji knew Akira had only lived there since he arrived in Tokyo, but to Ryuji he was just part of the place. It’s soul or something.

That sounded dumb. This is why Ryuji never tried to be poetic.

The bell on the door chimed as Ryuji entered the familiar cafe. It was fairly empty like usual, with a single elderly couple occupying a booth, but otherwise Sojiro was the only other person in the room.

Wait, that couldn’t be right. Ryuji scanned the room quickly again but couldn’t find any bright orange hair anywhere. Futaba should not be this hard to find. Unless Ryuji had missed a text or something.

But before Ryuji could pull out his phone to confirm, he heard Sojiro’s voice.

“Futaba is upstairs,” he said plainly.

“Thanks Boss!” Ryuji said, making his way towards the staircase at the back of the room.

At the top of the stairs, Ryuji heard Futaba before he saw her.

“Good of you to finally make it Romeo.”

Ryuji grunted a hello as he made his way toward his normal seat on the couch, facing Futaba who was already sitting on Akira’s bed.

“So, what’s this all about?” Ryuji questioned, feeling a bit on edge, especially with the scheming look in Futaba’s eyes.

“I’m here to help you on your quest! With my help there is no way you’ll fail!” Futaba proclaimed, a cheeky grin on her face.

“I still have no clue what you’re talkin’ about Futaba.”

With a groan of exasperation, Futaba grabbed a pillow and threw it directly at Ryuji’s face.

“Hey!” Ryuji shouted.

“Your special date of course! I want to help out too!”

Ryuji froze at that. Was it that obvious Ryuji was trying to plan something? If that was the case, did Akira already know? Godammit, there was no way Ryuji could restart everything now, what was he gonna do?

“Don’t overwork your brain too much Skull, I can see smoke coming out of your ears,” Futaba commented. “I only know because I read your texts to Queen and stuff, Akira doesn’t know anything yet.”

“Oh, thank god,” Ryuji released a deep breath to calm himself after the brief internal panic. Wait a minute.

“How the hell did you read my messages?!?”

“Don’t feel too special, I have all the phantom thieves’ phones hacked. And before you say anything, I usually don’t read anything! I was curious when I saw you had messaged everyone other than me this week!”

Ryuji shouldn’t be surprised that Futaba had hacked everyone’s phones, but that didn’t stop him from mentally going through all the texts he had sent recently. On second thought, he really didn’t want to think about that.

“Soooo-” Futaba cut through Ryuji’s thoughts, “-can I help? I have loads of experience with this type of thing.”

Now that was not what Ryuji was expecting. “What experience? You’re like twelve!” Ryuji asked incredulously.

Ignoring the jab, Futaba shot Ryuji a smirk as if she’d been hoping he’d ask that question. Pulling open her laptop, Futaba typed up something before turning her screen to show Ryuji.

On the screen were a bunch of pictures of… anime boys? He didn’t recognize them from any of the manga he’d read though.

“I’ve had years of Otome game experience, romancing every type of character you could think of! From your edgy rich boy to your happy go lucky idol, I know how to pull off the ideal date. And from my experience, I’ve noticed that your plan is missing a crucial detail!” Futaba exclaimed proudly.

Ah, that at least made more sense than imagining Futaba going out on dates with a bunch of different people and getting ‘experience’ that way.

But Ryuji highly doubted that some virtual dating could actually help out here. That’s like saying reading Dragon Ball taught Ryuji how to fight.

Okay to be fair screaming in both cases seemed to help summon your powers, even if in Ryuji’s case it involved yelling the word “Persona” rather than just screaming. Bad example.

“What am I missing then, oh wise one?” Ryuji asked, voice thick with sarcasm.

“Heh, well in order to boost your partner’s affection stat, you need to find the perfect gift!”

“A gift…”

And damn that was actually… really good advice. How could he have forgotten a gift? That’s like the most classic demonstration of appreciation ever!

Futaba’s smug face made it hard to admit that she was right, but there really wasn’t any avoiding it now.

“Shit, you’re right. But, what do I get him?” Ryuji asked, almost more to himself than to Futaba.

“Man Ryuji, you are so lucky that you have the genius Futaba here to help you!” Futaba proclaimed, standing as she did so.

Ryuji watched as Futaba made her way over to him, grabbing his hand and attempting to get him to his feet.

Futaba growled in annoyance, “Just get up already!”

“What are you doing!?” Ryuji asked, purposely resisting Futaba’s attempts at pulling him up.

“Taking you to buy Akira’s present you meathead!”

“Well why didn’t ya just say that!” Ryuji argued back, finally standing himself up.

Futaba said nothing, and merely pulled Ryuji out of the room and down the stairs, causing Ryuji to nearly trip.

“Bye Sojiro!” Futaba called out as she and Ryuji left the establishment. Luckily the older couple before seemed to have left so there’d been no one to notice them running out of the coffee shop.

Ryuji didn’t hear Boss’s acknowledgement of them leaving but could almost imagine the ‘don’t let anything happen to Futaba look.’ It sent a small shiver down Ryuji’s spine.

After the door to Leblanc’s shut behind them, Futaba released Ryuji’s hand but kept walking at a brisk pace toward what Ryuji would guess was the train station.

Ryuji followed, deciding against asking where they were going for now, as Futaba would most likely tell him it was a surprise or something.

Following Futaba through the streets of Yongen-Jaya, Ryuji couldn’t help but think about how far she’d come. A couple months ago she couldn’t even leave her room, so to see her out like this was pretty amazing. Although it did appear she was starting to slow down, enough for Ryuji to walk in step with her instead of behind her.

Taking a look at Futaba’s face, her determination seemed to be wavering a bit. Ryuji knew that Akira had been taking Futaba on day trips to help her get re-accustomed to crowds and stuff, but this might be one of the first times she was leading the way. It was pretty freakin’ awesome!

“You know where we’re going?” Ryuji asked, more to distract Futaba than anything else.

“O-of course I do! I guide you guys through the Metaverse all the time, and that’s way more complicated than this!” Futaba stammered a little, but began to speed up to her original pace.

They made it to the train station without too much fuss, which was impressive to say the least. The first time Ryuji had tried to navigate the streets by himself had been a total disaster. Thank god for Google maps.

The wait at the station wasn’t long either. It seemed Futaba had planned the timing of this whole thing too. Damn, maybe Futaba was the person to talk to about planning a date, if she already had today’s thing planned to a tee.

Luckily the trains were a lot less busy right now, with only a couple of stragglers getting onto the train with them when it pulled up. There were even two empty adjacent seats in the train.

Ryuji sat down without much thought, but noticed Futaba hesitated before taking a seat next to him. He turned to see if it was dirty or something, but couldn’t notice anything wrong aside from a little gum peeking out from the bottom of the seat, but that was normal.

After a moment Futaba sat down, eyes down in her lap and completely silent.

“You doin’ okay?” Ryuji asked Futaba.

She gave a small nod but nothing more than that. Ryuji shot her a concerned look but didn’t push.

Ryuji knew being out in a public space like this, especially an enclosed area, was hard for Futaba, but even she didn’t freak out this much anymore. It was like she had completely reverted to before she had joined the phantom thieves.

All of this pointed to something being very wrong.

Ryuji decided on a new tactic. He pulled out his phone and shot Futaba a quick text.

**<<Yo what’s wrong???**

He could hear the vibration in Futaba’s coat pocket when it went off. Futaba retrieved her phone, without looking up from the ground.

When she finally did read the text, she glanced up to meet Ryuji’s eyes for just a moment before returning to her phone screen. He watched Futaba’s fingers move at the speed of light before his own phone dinged out loud, getting him a few annoyed looks for some other passengers.

**>>it’s nothing, just the guy next to me...**

Ryuji’s head shot up at that, looking over to the guy on the other side of Futaba with no subtlety whatsoever.

It was a balding man with small circular glasses, probably in his late fifties. As far as Ryuji could see, the man was keeping to himself and seemed to be reading his book, but if he’d done anything to Futaba… well then Akira probably wouldn’t be the only one with assault on his record.

Before jumping to conclusions like he usually would, Ryuji instead texted Futaba back.

**<<what the hell did he do???? Say the word and ill kick his ass!!!!**

Futaba read the message, and although her hair was in her face, Ryuji thought he saw a glimpse of a small smile.

**>>He’s just a friend of my uncle’s who was around a lot when… well you know. I just really don’t want him to recognize me!!!!**

Oh, he was one of those assholes.

Ryuji was honestly proud of his self control that stopped him from taking that guy out right there and then. He knew a bit about how those people had blamed Futaba for her Mom’s death, and he knew how absolutely disgusting that was. Ryuji didn’t really believe in karma, but if it was real, then this guy was in for some shit later in life.

Ryuji grabbed his school bag and stood up, careful to keep his balance. He made eye contact with Futaba briefly and motioned for her to take his seat. She scooted over quickly and Ryuji plopped back down before anyone could take the seat.

The asshole gave Ryuji an inquisitive look before returning to his book. Ryuji shot the man a quick middle finger before turning back to Futaba.

She still looked pretty tense and he couldn’t really blame her. If he’d been forced to confront his deadbeat dad outta nowhere he wouldn’t be taking it well either.

Reaching back into his bag, Ryuji pulled out his earbuds and plugged them into his phone before handing the earbuds over to Futaba.

Futaba shot him a confused look, but took the earbuds nonetheless. Ryuji went through his music to find his 80s soft rock playlist. It wasn’t his favourite playlist, but it’s the music that he and his mom would play whenever either of them had a particularly bad day.

Futaba put the earbuds in, staying silent for a while. Ryuji still didn’t actually know where they were going, but at this point the destination wasn’t nearly as important as his friend.

After about ten minutes, Ryuji’s phone dinged again.

**>>what’s with this music? are you an old man?**

Despite the insult Ryuji smiled to himself.

**<<These are classics! Maybe we should get you some taste while we’re out shopping**

Futaba chuckled beside him.

**>>Or maybe we’ll get some real headphones instead of these lame earbuds. I think they still had your gross earwax on them**

The two continue to banter back and forth until they reached their stop. Or at least according to Futaba they did.

Ryuji was kind of expecting to end up in Akihabara or Shinjuku or something. Not back in regular old Shibuya. There go all the guesses about what Futaba was planning.

“Let’s go! We’re losing daylight here,” Futaba said. At least she seemed back to her excited self.

Futaba led Ryuji quickly out of the crowded boarding station and down toward the underground mall.

What could Akira want from the underground mall that was Best Date worthy?

The flower shop was here, but Akira was probably sick of flowers since he worked at the place and was constantly making bouquets anyways.

The Body Chop was there, but soap didn’t really seem like a proper present. Akira already smelled good all the time anyways (that sounded a bit creepy now that Ryuji thought about it.)

There was a clothing store, but Ryuji didn’t really trust himself to pick something for his boyfriend.

What else was there? Electronics? Too expensive. Accessories? Those went over Ryuji’s head.

So caught up in his thoughts, Ryuji had hardly noticed they’d stopped walking and arrived at their destination.

“Ta-da!” Futaba announced.

Ryuji had to take a double take to make sure they were at the right place.

“Hey, you sure that Akira wants something from here? Not like a new video game, or music or something?” Ryuji asked.

“Never have I been surer!”

Looking back up at the sign for the jewelry store in front of him, Ryuji didn’t feel that assured.

Futaba dragged Ryuji into the jewelry shop towards the small section in the corner that seemed to be catered towards men. Or at least that’s what the cardboard cut-out of a tall muscular man wearing multiple rings and a fancy wristwatch would suggest.

Even in the corner Ryuji couldn’t tell which of these were supposedly the perfect gift for his boyfriend.

Akira was a pretty stylish guy, but Ryuji didn’t think he’d ever seen him wear anything aside from a basic watch.

“Here it is!” Futaba pointed out excitedly.

Ryuji took a look at the item Futaba was pointing at. It appeared to be some kind of circular locket on a silver chain. There was no real embezzlement on it, but there was a lightly carved pattern on the locket.

Taking the locket in his hand, Ryuji pressed the small clasp on the side which allowed it to open. This revealed a space where he assumed a picture was supposed to go.

Damn this was the kind of thing in books where a guy loses his memories and only has a picture in his locket as a clue to regain them. Maybe Ryuji had read a bit too much manga.

“Is this really what Akira wants?”

Futaba rubbed her nose snootily.

“The other day Akira and I watched this trashy rom-com, totally his idea by the way I wanted to watch The Matrix, and he told me he thought this was the most romantic gift ever,” Futaba explained confidently. “Plus, we can find a really cute picture to go in it. A guaranteed affection stat boost!”

And well, it’s not like Futaba would lie about something like this.

If it made Akira happy, then it would make Ryuji happy. And not too pricey either so that was a plus.

“Fine, I’ll get it,” Ryuji grabbed the locket without any fuss, taking it to the counter to pay.

Ryuji heard Futaba yell out “Victory!” behind him as the bored looking cashier took his cash and returned his change.

The two left the store, small gift bag in hand, and began to head back toward the station. Ryuji took out his cellphone once again, this time to tell his mom he was on his way home.

“Hey Ryuji,” Futaba said, grabbing Ryuji’s attention.

Pocketing his phone Ryuji replied. “Yeah what’s up?”

Futaba paused for a second, her face starting to turn a light pink.

“I just wanted to say thanks for earlier, it was a big help,” Futaba said, sounding a little embarrassed, but sincere all the same.

Ryuji smiled, feeling his own face fluster as well. Man, how did people handle compliments? He was not used to them at all.

“It’s no problem, what are friends for? I wish I could’ve decked the guy though.” That made Futaba snicker. “And never mind me, I should be thanking you for today. I never woulda thought I’d be thanking you for hacking my phone and reading my messages, but this gift is an awesome idea!”

“Well next time I’ll lend you one of my dating sims so you can study up on dating beforehand,” Futaba gave a cheeky smile as they started walking once more.

As much as he’d like to retort, he knew Futaba had been a massive help today.

Maybe he’d test out a dating sim game after all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I need a fic where Akira and Ryuji attempt to play a dating sim together and keep fighting about who to romance.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading!


	5. All the Right Moves

Wednesday was here and that meant one thing. The dreaded dance lesson with Haru.

Oh, and the deadline for an essay about World War II, but Ryuji had thrown together some garbage last night for that.

It wasn’t his fault buying a gift with Futaba had taken longer than he’d originally thought. Besides, this Sunday date was more important than school anyways (Ryuji knew the rest of his friends, including Akira, would disagree but that was too bad for them.)

School went by even slower than usual if that was possible. Ryuji thought school took longer when you were looking forward to something, not when you were dreading it.

Ryuji was trying to stay at least semi-optimistic about the whole thing (and failing obviously). If he could pull off just a basic slow dance without stepping on Akira’s feet or looking like a complete idiot, he would consider it a win.

When lunchtime hit Ryuji was still questioning why he’d ever agreed to go through with this plan. He blamed Makoto and her persuasive techniques. By that he meant that she could be freakin’ scary.

Maybe he could do something else sappy instead? Like write a poem or draw a picture. Scratch that, those ideas were even more embarrassing than the dancing.

Being romantic was hard.

But if this was going to be the best date Akira had ever been on, then Ryuji had to pull out all the stops. In this case, that meant going all Beauty and the Beast on his ass. To clarify, the dance part of Beauty and the Beast, not the villagers with the pitchforks part.

A text alert grabbed Ryuji’s attention. It was from Akira.

**>>Lunch?**

Smiling at his phone Ryuji replied, telling Akira to meet him in the courtyard. He wasn’t meeting with Haru until after school, so hanging out with Akira now should be fine.

Ryuji made his way through the corridors a little quicker than he’d like to admit. It was starting to feel like he hadn’t seen Akira in a long time, even though he’d seen him in the student council room on Monday. But that was too short and didn’t count in Ryuji’s book anyways.

Spotting Akira sitting on the grass in their usually corner, Ryuji plopped himself down beside him.

“Hey dude! Long time no see,” Ryuji greeted enthusiastically. “How’s it goin’?”

Akira swallowed the food he had been chewing before answering.

“Better now that you’re here,” Akira responded with a slight smile on his face.

Ryuji flushed lightly and shoved Akira’s shoulder, “Can we have a proper talk without you bein’ all smooth and shit.”

“Only when it stops working so well,” Akira laughed.

Ryuji attempted to shoot Akira a glare, but it probably came across as more of a pout. This only made Akira laugh harder.

In retaliation, Ryuji grabbed the sandwich Akira had been eating and took a large bite out of it.

Akira gasped. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to report you, thief. First my heart, now my sandwich, you’ve gone too far this time!”

“Oh, shut up dude!” Ryuji said, some food still in his mouth while he spoke. “I can’t believe I was gonna say I missed you.”

Akira sobered at that, a small guilty smile reaching his face.

“I’m sorry Ryuji, I know I’ve been busy this week,” Akira apologized.

“Nah, I know it’s not your fault or anything. You got a lot on your plate, I get it, so don’t worry about it,” Ryuji said quickly. He hadn’t meant to make Akira feel bad. Besides Ryuji had been just as busy this week anyways.

“I should still try to make more time-”

Oh no Ryuji was not letting Akira get into this again.

“Akira,” Ryuji cut in, “-me and everyone else know how much time and work you put in as our leader and as our friend. So you don’t gotta apologize for not makin’ more time for me, cause I know you’re doing your best.”

Akira gave a small nod but didn’t look totally convinced. He never did anyways. Ryuji had tried to tell him over and over, that he was doing enough but Akira never believed him.

This was why Ryuji wanted his date to be so special. Maybe if he could show Akira just how much he appreciated and cared about him, Akira might be able to be a little kinder to himself.

“We’re still on for Sunday though, right?” Ryuji asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Akira smiled. “Are you gonna tell me what you have planned?”

“Nope! It’s gonna be a surprise.”

And with that the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch time. Ryuji savoured the last of the breeze, preparing himself to re-enter the brick prison of learning.

“Lunch is always way too effin’ short,” Ryuji complained as he stood, stretching slightly as he did so.

“Did you even eat anything?” Akira asked.

“I ate some of your sandwich,” Ryuji responded sheepishly. This wasn’t the first time he’d forgotten to eat lunch when they were together. It wasn’t his fault Akira was so distracting.

Akira sighed, clearly unimpressed, “Well remember to eat right after class.”

“Aye Aye Captain!” Ryuji saluted as he started making his way to class.

“I’m looking forward to Sunday,” Ryuji heard Akira call out before he was out of sight.

And if that didn’t fuel Ryuji’s resolve, then nothing would. This date was going to be perfect if it was the last thing Ryuji ever did.

***

When Ryuji got to the school roof, he noticed that he’d been the first to arrive.

The place was still a little bit of a mess, a few chairs just lying around alongside some graffitied and broken desks.

Ryuji started moving the scattered items aside in order to make some room for his lesson, getting a good look at the place as he went. Overall it looked pretty similar to when it was still being used as the phantom thieves’ secret hideout.

But one corner of the roof appeared to have a small garden that wasn’t there before. This must be some of Haru’s stuff. It all looked healthy and in great condition, no wilted leaves to be seen.

Ryuji knew his mom used to love to garden, but was way too busy working to support the two of them to make time nowadays. Maybe he could ask Haru for some tips on easy to care for plants that he and his mom could work on together.

Still admiring the vegetables, Ryuji heard Haru open the door to the roof before he actually saw her.

“Oh, hello Ryuji, I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” Haru greeted.

“It’s all good,” Ryuji assured, “You’re the one helpin’ me out so you don’t gotta apologize for anything.”

Haru smiled sweetly, “Well I must admit I was rather excited when I got your text, I haven’t gotten to dance just for the fun of it in quite a while.”

Well, Ryuji wasn’t sure how much fun she’d have with a student like him, but he’d give it his all.

“Hopefully I don’t mess up too bad then,” Ryuji said jokingly.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, you just want to learn a basic waltz after all,” Haru reassured, placing her bag in the corner near the roof’s door. The word ‘waltz’ sounded a lot more intimidating than ‘slow dance’ to Ryuji; he hoped they were the same thing.

Haru made her way to the middle of the roof, the furthest from all the clutter that had been moved aside earlier. She gestured to Ryuji to join her. He did so hesitantly, more from nerves than reluctance.

“Are you ready Ryuji?” Haru asked politely.

Ryuji felt his hand twitch a little, and was about to nod but instead asked, “are we not gonna play music or something?”

“I thought we’d get the basic steps down before adding music,” Haru responded patiently.

This time Ryuji did nod, keeping him hands by his side to wait for his instructions.

“I’m going to teach you the role of the lead, so it will be your job to set the pace of the dance,” Haru continued. “This way I think you can really show off to Akira.”

Ryuji gulped at that but said nothing.

Not waiting for Ryuji’s reply, Haru continued.

“Well the first thing I’ll show you is the proper hand placement,” Haru explained, taking both Ryuji’s hands in hers. “Now, in a traditional waltz one of your hands will join in your partner’s which you will hold out to your side at about shoulder height, you will place the other below your partner’s arm and on their back while they rest their hand on your arm. Understand?”

“Uhhh, sure,” Ryuji said dumbly.

Haru chuckled, moving one of Ryuji’s hands to her back and grasping the other firmly in her own. Ryuji blushed, mostly because of how stupid and out of place he felt.

The demonstration definitely helped more than the explanation though.

“Okay now we’ll go through the basic steps.”

Ryuji nodded once again, acutely aware of how sweaty his hands were. Haru was nice enough not to mention it though.

“We’ll stick with a box step for now and if you get the hang of it, we’ll add some more moves to it,” Haru said, seemingly unaware of the ball of tension that was Ryuji.

Haru seemed to at least realize that Ryuji was so focused on his feet (even though they hadn’t even started moving yet), that he wasn’t going to reply.

“First we take a step to your left,” Haru said. Oh god which way was left? Ryuji couldn’t even use the L trick since his hands were both in their set positions.

Haru took a step, dragging Ryuji with her. So much for him being the lead.

Sometimes Ryuji forgot how effin’ strong Haru was. She was so formal and nice that it was an easy thing to forget. On the other hand, Ryuji never forgot when they were in the Metaverse and Haru had packs of shadows begging for their lives.

“After that, we’re going to take two steps together in succession. You’re going to take a step forward and then a step to your right.”

Ryuji was once again dragged in the mentioned directions, but he was at least kind of ready for the motion this time, so it was a little less awkward. It was still graceless as all hell, but Ryuji had just started, so he was trying to cut himself a break.

“Now to complete the box, you’re going to take a step back,” Haru said, waiting this time for Ryuji to initiate the movement instead.

Ryuji took a step back, eyes still on his feet to avoid tripping.

“Nice job Ryuji. Now we just follow this 1-2 step pattern in this box motion and then you have the basics down.”

“Hey that’s not too bad!” Ryuji said. If this was all there was to this dance, Ryuji had this in the bag.

Or at least that’s what he thought until Haru started picking up the pace. Ryuji was stepping with the wrong feet and messing up his ones and twos. And just as he feared, he’d already stepped on Haru’s feet a total of six times.

Haru continued to be encouraging, but he wasn’t sure how much it was actually helping.

The explanation seemed so easy, but all the movements were so precise. Ryuji would constantly take steps that were too big or move too quickly when he was meant to move slower and vice versa.

After ten minutes of stumbling around, Ryuji let go of Haru. “Godammit why can’t I get this!”

“It’s okay Ryuji, we’ve still only just started,” Haru said, staying calm even in the face of Ryuji’s outburst.

“Yeah I know! But it’s not like I got a whole bunch of time to practice or nothing!” Ryuji shouted, then faltered for a moment before apologizing. “Sorry I’m just a bit stressed about the whole thing.”

“I understand Ryuji, but I do believe you can do this,” Haru said with a smile. For some reason Ryuji could swear he saw some sadness behind her eyes.

Maybe it was just disappointment at his failed attempts? Or maybe he was just seeing things.

“You know Ryuji,” Haru began, startling Ryuji from his thoughts, “I think you’re overthinking this whole thing. Try dancing more with your body then your brain, I think you’ll find it easier that way.”

Hmmm… maybe Haru was right. Overthinking was Akira’s thing not his. And acting before thinking is definitely one of Ryuji’s go to strategies for most things in his life.

“Okay, let’s keep going,” Ryuji said, extending his hand out for Haru to take.

Haru took his hand with a nod, and they began dancing again. It was still rough and a bit jerky, but very slowly Ryuji was starting to get the timing of the movements. He didn’t think his dancing would ever be described as graceful, but he was at least getting the steps down.

He wasn’t keeping track of how many times they’d moved in this box, but it felt like hundreds.

One thing Ryuji hadn’t stopped doing however was looking down at his feet. Which was still quite an issue considering a dance wouldn’t be too romantic if he couldn’t even look Akira in the eye.

So, at the risk of stepping on Haru’s feet again, Ryuji chanced a glance upwards, only to notice the tears in Haru’s eyes.

Ryuji immediately stopped and released Haru who quickly rubbed the tears from her face.

“Hey, what happened?” Ryuji asked. Had he hurt her somehow? Haru had been kind enough to help him out and in return he’d made her cry. What was wrong with him?

“Oh, it’s nothing you did Ryuji, I promise,” Haru replied, voice a little shaky, “It’s rather silly if I’m being honest.”

Ryuji may not have known Haru for all that long, but he knew that whatever was upsetting her wasn’t silly.

“I’m sure it’s not stupid,” Ryuji assured. “And even if it is, I don’t think holding it in is gonna help.”

Haru chuckled a little at Ryuji’s determination, but he could hear sadness in her laugh as well.

“It was actually my father who taught me to dance you know. For most things he would hire a tutor of some sort, but he personally taught me the waltz even when I preferred ballet. He used to say that slow dancing was a vital key to formal business events,” Haru spoke quietly.

Ryuji didn’t know what to say. Even if Haru’s dad had been a complete asshat, of course she would still miss him.

Hell, he hadn’t even known the guy and his death had been a huge shock. He couldn’t imagine how Haru was feeling. And it’d only been a couple of weeks since the whole ordeal, so those feelings were probably still fresh.

“I suppose the fact that it’s his birthday today doesn’t help the matter much either,” Haru added, a forced smile on her face.

And if Ryuji didn’t feel bad before he did now. Haru had come up here to help him on a day that was so hard for her. Not only that but she’d had to listen to him complain about nothing while she was clearly in pain.

Shit, if only Ryuji had been paying attention instead of focusing just on himself. The self-pity would have to wait though, it wouldn’t help anyone right now.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Ryuji asked before realizing how accusatory that came across. To try to make up for it, he quickly added, “You didn’t have to agree to help me out if this is a hard day for you.”

Haru wiped her nose before answering. “I know, I thought it would be a good distraction, but it seems to have done the opposite, I'm afraid.”

Ryuji was currently wishing he was one of those posh dudes that carried tissues for people to use, cause he felt pretty useless just standing there while Haru tried to stop crying.

“Let’s sit down for a bit, yeah?” Ryuji suggested, not sure what else to do.

Haru nodded and the two sat down with their backs up against the brick wall.

For a couple of minutes, they sat in silence, Haru slowly calming down as time passed.

Staying silent was getting harder and harder for Ryuji though. Whenever Akira was upset, Ryuji would just keep talking until things settled down (Akira said he liked the sound of Ryuji’s voice, which was a bit weird to Ryuji considering he knew he was too loud most of the time.)

But Ryuji wasn’t sure how to act with Haru, the newest member of the team. For all he knew she might find him annoying and was just too polite to say anything.

But after fifteen minutes of sitting silently, Ryuji couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ya know, it’s okay to take it easy when you’re having a rough day? I can tell you’re the type of person who’d rather keep pushing yourself so you don’t worry anybody, but it’s okay to feel what you’re feelin’.”

Haru looked almost surprised to hear those words from Ryuji. But before she could offer any words of thanks, Ryuji continued.

“I know talkin’ things out can be pretty painful sometimes, even if it can help. People make it sound like it’s easy to just go off about all the shit going on in your life, but it really ain’t. Some feelings just don’t got words, and sometimes you don’t want to bother other people. But don’t worry about bothering me or anything. So, if you do want to talk about anything, I’ll listen. If you’d rather not that’s fine too.”

Damn, now Ryuji felt like he was gonna start crying too.

“Thank you, Ryuji. That means a lot,” Haru spoke softly, as if afraid she’d lose her composure again if she spoke too loudly.

“I find it strange,” she continued, “My father did some horrible things, both to me and the people around him, and yet I still miss him dearly. I guess I’m not sure how I should be feeling.”

Ryuji brought his knees to his chest and looked up toward the sky.

“Ya know, a few years ago my shitty good for nothing dad finally skipped town, and I remember feeling so relieved that I cried,” Ryuji said, his eyes fixed on the clouds. “But a few days later I realized part of me missed him, and I hated it. It wasn’t really my dad I missed though, but who my dad used to be before he became an effin’ bastard,” Ryuji said, not sure why he was even bringing this up. He hated talking about his father, but it did help him relate a little to what Haru was going through.

“Anyway, I guess what I’m tryin’ t’say is that I don’t think there’s any right or wrong way to feel, it just sorta happens. Feelings are shitty that way,” Ryuji finished, still staring at the sky since he wasn’t sure he was ready to face Haru after spilling all that shit. He hoped it didn’t sound like he was complaining more about his own problems.

While waiting for Haru to respond, Ryuji felt a hand cover his and squeeze a bit. He finally looked over to meet Haru’s face where he was met with a genuine smile.

“That’s very wise of you Ryuji,” Haru said, making Ryuji blush. “I agree, feelings can be rather shitty.”

Ryuji snorted at hearing Haru swear. It just sounded so weird in Haru’s sweet voice. Haru giggled a little as well.

“I am feeling a little better though, or at least, I don’t feel so alone anymore,” Haru said, nose and eyes still red from crying.

Ryuji blushed again, embarrassed but happy he was able to help. She was right, he didn’t feel alone anymore either.

But it wasn’t just Haru who was there for him. Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, and even Morgana had all become such important people to him as well. And at the forefront of them all was Akira. Without Akira, Ryuji would never have met all these amazing people who had quickly become some of the most important in his life.

With all his friends, there’s no way he could feel lonely.

After another moment of silence, Haru asked, “Do you want to start dancing again?”

Ryuji thought about it for a moment, feeling a bit surprised that he’d completely forgotten about the dancing altogether. This meant he had also forgotten the stress he was feeling about perfecting the whole thing.

But this date was supposed to be about showing Akira how much he cared, not about it being perfect.

“Nah, let’s just chill here a while,” Ryuji responded, “Maybe we can practice a bit more tomorrow if you’re free?”

“I’d like that,” Haru said warmly, “You were actually starting to get it.”

Ryuji scoffed, “You don’t gotta lie to me.”

“I think you have the steps, you just have to start looking up, or perhaps just wear some really nice shoes.”

Ryuji chuckled at that. And he found as they quieted down once again, that he was actually looking forward to dance lessons tomorrow.

Maybe he’d bring an ice pack for Haru’s feet. After getting stepped on so many times Ryuji was sure they’d have some kind of bruising.

Or maybe he’d just bring some more plants as an apology gift in advance for when he stepped on her feet tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have had to watch youtube videos about the waltz to write this chapter. But anyways, next chapter is the long awaited date, so hopefully everything goes okay!!!
> 
> Thanks again to everyone for reading!


	6. Perfection is when I'm with you

The rest of the week had passed in the blink of an eye. 

Ryuji had met up with Haru every day to practice his box dancing (the word waltz sounded too fancy, so Ryuji usually referred to it as the _‘Box Dance’ _instead). And while he would hardly consider himself an expert, Ryuji felt he at least had the fundamentals down.

In terms of the remaining details for the date: Makoto had found a place that rented small canoes out pretty cheap and made a reservation for two in the afternoon, Ryuji and Futaba had worked together to get the final pieces of the gift together, Ann had sent him a coupon for the small coffee shop that he and Akira would be going to before their fishing trip, Yusuke had put himself in charge of setting up a small table for dinner (claiming helping set up for a romantic evening would help inspire him), and Haru had helped put a playlist on Ryuji’s phone with some music they had picked out together.

Everything was in place, or at least as in place as it could be.

Ryuji had received good luck messages from each of his friends. Apparently even Morgana, who was staying with Ann for the day, had wished him the best (although Ryuji was pretty sure the real message from Morgana was more like “Try not to mess up too badly Skull”.)

So here Ryuji was, noon on Sunday, about to pick up Akira from LeBlanc and sweep him off his feet! He was wearing his classic purple hoodie and some sweatpants overtop of his borrowed outfit. The plan was to reveal the outfit before dinner, so he didn’t ruin the clothes while fishing. 

Dramatic reveals were typically Akira’s thing, so Ryuji figured it was his turn for once.

Ryuji knocked on the front door, before realizing it was a cafe and entering the establishment like a normal person.

Immediately spotting the mess of dark curls behind the cafe’s counter, Ryuji smiled brightly.

He approached the counter and sat in the seat in front of Akira, whose attention was fixed on the mug he was drying.

“Welcome, do you know what you’d like to order -” Akira greeted, only looking up to recognize Ryuji as he finished his sentence.

“Yeah, I think I’ll take you to go,” Ryuji replied, and damn he was pretty proud of that line if he was being honest.

Akira threw his drying cloth at Ryuji, as he started to laugh. With a wide grin he responded, “I see you have excellent taste sir.”

Now the two were both laughing their heads off in the middle of LeBlanc, with a bemused Sojiro coughing to get their attention.

“Get out of here kids, I don’t need your cheesy flirting scaring my customers,” Sojiro said, but there was no bite to his words.

“Yes, Boss,” Ryuji replied, a small blush forming on his face.

Akira on the other hand, simply saluted before removing his employee apron and hanging it up on a designated hanger. 

Ignoring Sojiro telling them “not to have too much fun,” the two exited LeBlanc.

“Okay Ryuji, you said you had something planned, so I hereby assign you leader for today,” Akira said, a smile still plastered to his face.

“No one could ever replace you as leader dude, but yeah I got a few things lined up! Follow me!” Ryuji announced, grabbing Akira’s hand so the two could walk together.

Apparently that comment had been enough to catch Akira off-guard, as he was now silently walking at Ryuji’s side with a blush on his face.

God how had Ryuji scored a boyfriend this cute?

Ryuji squeezed Akira’s hand a little before picking up his speed slightly.

Akira, having recovered and no longer looking flustered, gave Ryuji an amused look and asked, “Are we in a rush or something?” 

“Nah, I’m just excited is all,” Ryuji replied.

And while it was true that Ryuji was excited, there was at least a bit of a schedule to keep to. He’d told his friends some approximate times to set things up so as long as he wasn’t super late things should be fine.

Ryuji heard Akira let out an amused laugh beside him as they continued walking.

Ryuji checked the map on his phone a few times just to make sure he knew where he was going. This new cafe was supposedly just a twenty-minute walk from LeBlanc (he hoped this place wasn’t any sort of threat to LeBlanc’s business considering the proximity; Ryuji wouldn’t want to support the enemy.)

They made some small talk as they walked, just as comfortable as it always was despite Ryuji’s nerves.

Ryuji spotted the place rather easily considering how new it looked compared to a lot of the other buildings in the area.

Steamy Beans Coffee, as it was called, appeared to be going for a hipster kind of vibe, with the front of the shop being completely open to the outdoors and stools surrounding small tree trunk tables littering the area.

“_Steamy_ Beans huh?” Akira said, wriggling his eyebrows as he spoke. 

Ryuji groaned, knowing he should have seen that one coming.

“But really, I’m surprised you picked a cafe, you hate coffee,” Akira continued.

Ryuji shrugged, “Yeah but you like it, and apparently the coffee is real fancy here. Anyways, it’s not like they only got bean juice here.”

“Please don’t say bean juice ever again,” Akira deadpanned.

“No promises,” Ryuji laughed.

They looked over the menu which was written in a sleek cursive on a chalkboard hanging above the front counter. Some of it was kind of hard to read, but Ryuji quickly spotted his go-to plain hot chocolate and decided on that. He would hold off on sweets and save himself a little cash.

Akira decided on what was called a Bulletproof Coffee, which apparently was coffee with butter and oil in it? Ryuji didn’t think coffee could get any worse, but this might prove him wrong. They ordered together, with Ryuji insisting he pay despite Akira’s arguments.

Ryuji only won because he had already grabbed the coupon from Ann along with some cash from his pocket and thrown it (almost literally) at the barista before Akira could react.

Akira grumbled something Ryuji didn’t catch as the two of them found a table to sit at while waiting for their drinks.

Ryuji was about to start talking when Akira leaned across the table and gave Ryuji a quick peck on the lips.

“H-hey, what was that for?” Ryuji asked, feeling the blood rushing to his face.

“For taking me out today,” Akira said simply.

“We haven’t even done anything yet, and you don’t gotta thank me. Going on dates and hanging out is what boyfriends do right?” Ryuji retorted. 

Akira hummed contently as a reply, just as the barista returned with their drinks, in two large green mugs.

They thanked the barista who only grunted in return.

Ryuji looked down at his drink, noticing what was probably supposed to be some kind of latte art on the top, but couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be.

Just as he was about to take a sip of his drink, he was startled by Akira who had suddenly spat his coffee on equal parts Ryuji and the table.

“What the-” Ryuji began, wiping the coffee from his face, before looking up to make sure Akira was okay.

Akira coughed for a moment before apologizing. “I’m sorry Ryuji! I didn’t mean to.”

“Hey dude it’s fine. But what happened? Did you see Akechi or something?”

Akira relaxed at that before saying, “No, no. That was just the worst sip of coffee I’ve ever had.”

Well shit. To be fair, the drink had sounded gross to Ryuji from the start, but still. Not a great start to his date plan.

“Sorry about that dude,” Ryuji said, letting out a nervous laugh as he did so.

“It’s not like you made it Ryuji. Although even that would probably be better than this abomination I just tasted,” Akira joked, grabbing his napkin to start cleaning the coffee on the table.

Ryuji laughed genuinely this time. At least Akira was still in high spirits. One shitty coffee wouldn’t ruin this date. 

Ryuji took a small sip of his hot chocolate before spitting it back into his cup. At least he didn’t spit it all over the table like Akira.

“Holy shit this is awful!” Ryuji shouted. “Like how do you screw up hot chocolate this bad?”

Akira was now holding his hand over his mouth to silence his laughs.

“Like it tastes like a mixture of chilli and ass! I can’t even imagine what your thing tasted like,” Ryuji continued his rant. “They should be paying me to drink this, not the other way around!”

Apparently loudly complaining about how shitty the drinks taste at a coffee shop can get you kicked out pretty quickly. But considering Akira had yet to stop laughing over the whole thing, it was probably worth it.

Still, Ryuji had been hoping to impress Akira with the fancy coffee…

Well he’d just have to make the rest of the day even better then!

***

Ryuji and Akira had made their way to the train station without much issue, with the ride to the park also being pretty uneventful, aside from Akira continuously trying to guess their next destination to which Ryuji refused to answer.

Ryuji was still hiding his surprise outfit, which had luckily been spared from the coffee earlier.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Ryuji noticed that the park was relatively empty compared to how it usually was.

Perfect! The less people here the better!

“I thought I guessed romantic walk in the park and you said no?” Akira asked as they made their way toward the docks of the small lake.

“Yeah, you said walk in the park, which ain’t what we’re doin’,” Ryuji said, feeling a little smug that Akira had never guessed their next activity correctly.

“Is it a couples boat ride around the lake?” Akira guessed.

“You’re close.”

However, Akira didn’t have time to make any more guesses before they were in front of the small canoe Ryuji and Makoto had picked out from the renter.

Fishing rods, bait and all the other necessities were in the boat already courtesy of Makoto. What Ryuji wasn’t expecting to see were heart shaped balloons tied around both the canoe seats and the ores. 

Ryuji groaned a bit, embarrassed by how cheesy the whole thing looked. Taking a glance to his side he noticed that Akira’s eyes were positively beaming, so he supposed he’d have to thank Makoto later. Again.

“Well dude, it’s time to catch some freakin’ fish!” Ryuji said, pumping his fist energetically in the air.

He’d never actually fished in a boat before, only at the local fishing pond where you just sat on shore and waited with the other fifty people, hoping for a bite. 

Ryuji stepped aboard the boat first, careful to keep his balance, before holding out his hand to help Akira in as well. Akira took his hand and sat himself down in the boat, taking a closer look at all the tools at their disposal.

“How did you get all of this Ryuji,” Akira asked, sounding both impressed and concerned as he spoke.

“Found some guy who rents the stuff for pretty cheap. I got some help finding the guy though,” Ryuji admitted. “You ready to go?”

“Aye aye captain,” Akira chuckled in response.

They each took a paddle and set out. Akira took the front so he could steer while Ryuji was the power at the rear. Surprisingly, the balloons didn’t seem to interfere with the paddling at all.

The lake was relatively empty, and the other people in row boats seemed to stay closer to the dock and the edges of the water. This gave Ryuji and Akira the middle of the lake to themselves, where hopefully the fish hadn’t been scared away yet.

The waters were extremely calm here, to the point where Ryuji could almost see his own reflection in it.

“This spot seem good to you?” Ryuji asked.

Akira nodded, putting his paddle aside and grabbing a rod instead.

“How about a friendly competition?” Akira asked.

“Oh yeah? What d’you got in mind?” Ryuji responded, his competitive nature easily stirred up.

Akira shot Ryuji a sly smile. “The usual. First one to catch a fish gets a kiss from the winner.”

Well Ryuji wouldn’t say he was surprised. It was called their usual prize for a reason.

“You’re on!”

And so the two of them finished setting their equipment up and cast their lines. The intensity of the competition (though having no real importance) left them sitting in quiet determination.

It was always fun though. These small contests that didn’t really mean anything. Competition had always been such a massive part of Ryuji’s life that he hadn’t realized he was missing until Akira showed up. And they were never anything crazy, just the odd burger eating competition at Big Bang Burger (Akira was the undisputed champ, and Ryuji still had the image of his boyfriend devouring that burger burned into his brain) or some smash bros at Akira’s place. These things were small, but they brought something back to Ryuji that he’d thought he’d lost completely after the incident with track team.

They filled a hole in him that he’d been pretending didn’t exist, and there were no words for how happy they made Ryuji.

Ryuji was so lucky to have Akira in his life. He just hoped this date would show Akira how much.

Ryuji turned his concentration back to fishing, sending all the sappy thoughts to the back of his brain. He had a kiss to win!

However, after an hour and a half of nothing even resembling a bite, Ryuji was approaching his wits end.

“What the eff is this? Where are you scaly shits?!” Ryuji yelled at the water. 

At this point, Akira had placed his rod to the side, propped up so to still signal if a fish was on the line.

“Well, I guess maybe there’s a reason no one fishes out here?” Akira said, smiling at Ryuji’s antics.

Ryuji grunted in response, trying and failing to hide his frustration. It was true that he’d never seen people fish here before, but he’d assumed it was because the equipment wasn’t rented here. And he and Makoto had even made sure there were no laws against fishing here beforehand.

It wasn’t like they caught fish every time they went to the fishing pond either. It was probably just a stroke of bad luck.

“I’ll catch one, just you watch!” Ryuji declared, shooting a determined smile Akira’s way. “I hope you’re ready to give me my victory kiss!”

Ryuji reeled in his line to switch out the lure he was currently using, because clearly it wasn’t working. He picked a bright yellow plastic fish from the pile and attached it.

Ryuji then slowly stood up in the boat.

“Careful up there,” Akira warned.

Ryuji scoffed in return and lifted his fishing rod to cast it out.

But Akira must have jinxed him, because as Ryuji swung his rod, the hook got caught in one of the helium balloons, bursting it with a loud _POP_. This was enough to startle Ryuji right off his feet and into the water.

The next thing he knew, Ryuji was soaking wet and swimming next to the boat in the cold water.

Ryuji felt dazed, still processing what the hell just happened.

“Hey, grab onto this,” Akira said, bringing Ryuji back to the present.

Ryuji grabbed the ore Akira was holding out to him and held on as Akira slowly pulled him back onto the boat, careful not to tip it as he did so.

Another day Ryuji would probably be impressed by Akira being strong enough to pull him aboard, but he was too busy feeling like an idiot.

It was the goddamn balloons’ fault! Why did they have to pop so loud? 

“Hey, are you okay Ryuji?” Akira asked, panting a bit from the energy he’d just exerted.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Ryuji said. “Thanks dude.”

Akira chuckled. “Now what kind of boyfriend would I be if I just let you drown?”

“A really shitty one,” Ryuji answered, squeezing out some of the water from his now drenched clothes. 

“Maybe we should paddle to shore?” Akira suggested, but since he was already starting to paddle, his words were more like directions rather than a suggestion.

“Fine, but I’m counting this as a victory for me,” Ryuji joked, trying to cover up the slight disappointment of ruining the fishing trip.

Akira rolled his eyes in amusement before leaning across the boat to kiss Ryuji on the lips.

It only lasted a moment, but it was solid and warm, especially in contrast to the cold that was starting to make its way into Ryuji’s body. He’d still count it as a win.

Akira pulled back slowly, grabbing himself an ore and passing another one to Ryuji as he settled back in his seat of the boat. 

They paddled back to the docks at a pretty fast pace, both keen to get to shore. Ryuji’s clothes continued to drip in the boat, forming a large puddle at the centre. 

Luckily the sun was still out and was drying Ryuji off at a relatively fast pace. Another half hour and he’d probably be an acceptable damp instead of the soaking he was right now.

As they slowed their speed to approach the docks and tie the boat off, Ryuji took a quick glance at his phone. He’d put it in a plastic bag that had stayed in the boat during the trip, so it hadn’t been damaged at all.

A notification from Yusuke flashed, saying that the table had been set up and the food would be delivered when requested.

It was about 5:00pm, and while Ryuji had initially planned a 6:00pm dinner, it was going to have to be close enough. Sure this was more like the time old people would eat, but Ryuji didn’t have any other ideas, so early dinner it was.

After exiting the boat and doing his best to get rid of the extra water, Ryuji shot a reply to Yusuke asking for the food to be delivered now.

Ryuji stuffed his phone in his still dry bag before looking around for Akira who was checking his own phone.

As if sensing Ryuji’s gaze, Akira looked up and pocketed his phone. “Is it fine to leave the boat here?” Akira asked.

“Yeah, the owner is gonna come by later tonight to get his stuff,” Ryuji explained, silently hoping getting the contents of the canoe wet wouldn’t be a problem. Boats were meant to go in the water, so it couldn’t be that big a deal.

Akira nodded. “Do you want to head back to LeBlanc or something to get some dry clothes?”

“NO!” Ryuji all but shouted. 

There was no way he was going to throw away his and his friends’ efforts for some dry clothes.

“Okay, okay, I’m not going to force you or anything,” Akira replied, confusion clear in his tone.

“Shit dude, I didn’t mean to yell. I just meant I’ll be fine.”

Akira smiled, having known Ryuji long enough to understand that he hadn’t been angry in the first place. “At least take off your hoodie, that material is never going to dry.”

“Good idea,” Ryuji replied, putting his bag down so he could remove both the hoodie and additional sweatpants he was wearing.

Ryuji felt ten pounds lighter without the drenched outerwear. He tied them to the strap of his bag so he wouldn’t have to carry them separately, the material still dripping as it hung from the bag.

It was then that Ryuji heard a long wolf whistle come from Akira.

Ryuji looked up in confusion. “What are you-”

Ryuji cut himself off. Oh shit, he was wearing Yusuke’s outfit. The outfit that was meant to wow his boyfriend. The outfit that was now wet and still dripping slightly at the edges. 

“Shit dude, I was supposed to do this stupid reveal after the fishing but now-” but Ryuji was quickly shushed by Akira by placing a finger to Ryuji’s lips.

When had Akira gotten this close anyways?

“I love it,” Akira said sincerely. “Although it’s going to be pretty hard to pay attention to the rest of the date when you’re looking so handsome.”

Ryuji went completely red at that, too flustered to respond. The clothes had been meant to render Akira speechless not him! But if Akira liked it, that was all that really mattered.

“So where to next?” Akira asked.

Ryuji finally snapped out of his state of flustered mess and told Akira to follow him.

“It ain’t far from here,” Ryuji exclaimed, catching Akira’s eyes focused still on him, making Ryuji blush once again. “And quit staring!”

“Sorry Ryuji, I’ll try to control myself,” Akira chuckled, but made no effort to divert his gaze elsewhere.

It only took five minutes to reach the table that had been set up for them. It was located near the large tree that usually served as a meeting place for school outings to the park.

Seeing the set up for the first time, Ryuji had to admit, Yusuke had done a bang-up job.

The table was covered with a red tablecloth, some fancy looking dishes and silverware, a few small candles, a vase with a single sunflower in it, and two silver cloches (which he’d only ever seen in his Mom’s cooking shows until now) in front of each chair. It looked like a million freaking bucks, and probably cost more then Ryuji had given Yusuke. He wouldn’t be surprised if Haru had chipped in considering how fancy it looked.

“Ta-Da!” Ryuji said, trying to not act surprised by his own plan.

At this, Akira was speechless for a moment, eyes raking over each individual piece of the dining table.

“Ryuji, this is amazing,” Akira gasped. 

“It does look pretty awesome doesn’t it? Who needs some posh restaurant when we got our own five star place right here.”

Ryuji approached the table and pulled a chair out for Akira. “After you, Mr. Kurusu,” Ryuji said with a mock bow.

Akira smirked and sat down in his chair. 

“Why I’m honoured Mr. Sakamoto,” Akira replied. “And may I say that the view is lovely tonight.”

“Yeah you do look pretty good.”

“Hey that was my line!” Akira said, feigning insult. 

“Nope I used it first! Try not to be so obvious next time,” Ryuji laughed, sitting himself down.

Ryuji didn’t waste any time removing the cloches and putting them on the ground beside the table. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t starving since he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, and letting the food get cold was out of the question.

It smelt pretty good if Ryuji did say so himself, grabbing one of the three spoons (having no idea which spoon was the ‘right’ spoon) to eat with.

“Is this... Sojiro’s curry?” Akira asked before Ryuji could start digging in.

Oh right, he should probably tell Akira what they were eating.

“Uh, yeah. Or at least that’s what I tried to make. Boss wouldn’t exactly hand over the secret recipe to me, but he gave me some hints,” Ryuji explained. “Ma helped too, since I don’t make curry a lot.”

Ryuji scratched the back of his neck. He knew this would never beat Boss or Akira’s curry, but he gave it his best shot.

“Have I mentioned how amazing you are yet?” Akira smiled.

“Yeah, and if you keep it up my head is gonna get as big as that stupid detective prince,” Ryuji retorted, stuffing a spoonful of curry into his mouth for effect.

And if Akira said something after that, Ryuji didn’t hear him due to his mouth now being on FIRE.

Ryuji was immediately coughing up the food, looking around desperately for something to drink. Akira must have noticed Ryuji’s distress because there was suddenly a bottle of water being shoved in his direction. Ryuji accepted without question, squirting as much water into his mouth as he could.

There was no immediate relief, but the burn was fading into a dull throb. Ryuji was only now aware of the tears and snot running down his face. He wiped his face with the sleeve of Yusuke’s shirt, internally promising to wash this thing twice returning it.

“Don’t -“ Ryuji started but was interrupted by his own coughs once again. “Don’t eat the curry,” Ryuji managed.

Ryuji’s teary eyes were met with concerned ones. Akira was already on his feet in case Ryuji needed help.

Ryuji took another sip of water before saying, “I’m good. This stuff is just REALLY spicy.”

He had just made this stuff this morning and it had not tasted like this. In fact, it’d been so mild that before he’d left to meet Akira, his mom had asked if she could add more spice.

_ Shit_, his mom was like the queen of spice, of course she’d add enough to burn Ryuji’s tongue for a week.

“Look I’m really sorry dude,” Ryuji apologized, eyes downcast.

The sound of Akira coughing caught Ryuji’s attention. And judging by the spoon in his hand and the tears in his eyes, Akira had definitely eaten a spoonful of the curry.

“What the hell Kira, I told ya not to eat it!”

But instead of drinking some water like Ryuji had, Akira took another defiant bite of curry. At this point the colour of Akira’s face was nearing the colour of his Joker gloves.

“Dude stop!” Ryuji yelled, taking Akira’s plate away before he could go back for more.

This time Akira did reach for what water they had left and chugged it.

“Why would you eat that?” Ryuji asked, after Akira had finally stopped coughing.

“Of course I’m gonna eat the food my boyfriend and his mom made me,” Akira responded simply after clearing his throat a few times. “It wasn’t bad either by the way, the flavour was there, just a bit too hot.”

This sort of reassurance would usually help Ryuji when he was feeling down, but right now it was just making it worse. Of course Akira would eat it just to make Ryuji feel better. It was the same old Akira having to overexert himself because of Ryuji’s mistakes.

Why was it always like this and why couldn’t Ryuji do anything to make it better? This stupid date was supposed to help but it hadn’t done anything! Typical Ryuji had to go and fuck the whole thing up.

Terrible coffee, falling out of the boat, soaked clothing and now inedible food. Every single thing his friends had helped him plan had all gone down in flames thanks to him. He’d wasted all their time and now he was wasting Akira’s too.

So much for trying to be the best boyfriend, when he was officially the worst.

Akira deserved better.

“This was a mistake dude, we should just go,” Ryuji said, getting to his feet.

“Hey Ryuji, the food really isn’t a big deal -“ Akira started.

“It ain’t just the food!” Ryuji shouted, cutting Akira off. “It’s me being a piss-poor excuse of a boyfriend! I can’t plan one fucking date without ruining everything.”

“Ryuji you didn’t ruin anything, and I’m having a great time,” Akira said, seemingly caught off guard by how quickly this situation had escalated.

“Yeah, and you know what? I couldn’t even come up with this stuff by myself! I needed help with _everything_, so if you enjoyed this shitshow make sure to thank the others not me. The only things I helped with were the pieces that fell apart,” Ryuji ranted, feeling tears threatening to fall.

God, how had it ended up like this? He really was pathetic.

Ryuji took a breath.

“I just wanted to take you on a date to take some of your stress away, but here I am making things worse again,” Ryuji continued, speaking quietly now. “You should just go, I wanna be alone.”

Ryuji picked up his bag, trying to decide how he was going to clean this mess up before it got too dark. Transporting all these dishes in his bag wasn’t safe, and where the hell did this table even come from? Was he gonna fail a task as simple as cleaning up along with everything else today?

A hand on his shoulder spun him directly into a tight hug, and this was enough to finally get the tears to fall from his eyes. Ryuji didn’t hug back though, he just let his arms stay limp at his side.

“Ryuji, could you just listen for a second?” Akira asked. Ryuji nodded against Akira’s shoulder, sniffling a little as to not get Akira’s jacket wet.

Very slowly Akira moved his hands to Ryuji’s shoulders and pushed him back until their eyes could meet.

“This has been by far, the best date I’ve ever been on and probably one of the best days of my life,” Akira said, a small smile still on his face.

“But -“ Ryuji attempted, but was quickly shushed by Akira.

“You seem to think I want some picture-perfect date from a movie, but since when did anything in our lives go according to plan?” Akira asked, making Ryuji chuckle a little. “And I can’t remember the last time someone did something this big just for me, it makes me really happy. To me, this date was perfect, spicy food and all.”

Ryuji let out a laugh, because damn, if this was considered the perfect date then the Internet was a fucking liar.

“You sure the curry isn’t messing with your head?” Ryuji asked softly.

“I have you here with me Ryuji, how could this date be anything other than perfect?” Akira reassured.

At that, Ryuji pulled Akira back into a tight hug. “Thanks Akira, and sorry for freaking out on you.”

Akira ran his fingers through Ryuji’s still damp hair.

“I should be thanking you for today Ryuji, although I will have to get you to take back what you said before.”

“Huh?” Ryuji said, pulling back from Akira as to not soak his boyfriend any more then he already had. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m afraid you insulted my wonderful boyfriend earlier, so I need you to take back those things you said about him,” Akira explained jokingly, but in a way that was nowhere near rhetorical.

Ryuji blushed. He could hardly deal with other people saying nice shit about him, so saying nice shit about himself was pretty high on Ryuji’s list of least favourite things.

“Dude, can we just -“ but seeing the look in Akira’s eyes, he knew he wasn’t getting out of this. “-Fine, I’m not a piss-poor boyfriend. There, happy?”

Yeah, Ryuji could consider himself at least mediocre he supposed.

“I’d prefer you call yourself the best boyfriend, but I’ll take what I can get,” Akira replied before leaning forward to capture Ryuji’s lips.

The kiss was slow and comforting, with the taste of curry still on both their lips, but Akira’s lips definitely tasted better than the hellfire from before. The softness of the kiss felt like home, like Ryuji was exactly where he was meant to be. Ryuji felt a hand cup his face gently, before Akira pulled away slowly, pressing their foreheads together.

“I’ll try,” Akira whispered, eyes looking down despite being forehead to forehead with Ryuji. “I’ll try to take on a little less and ease up my schedule. Just for you though.”

And no words could express the swell of happiness that Ryuji felt at that, a big smile forming on his face.

Maybe, just maybe, his plan had succeeded.

“That means a lot to me dude, I know how hard it is for you to take a damn break,” is all Ryuji could really think to say in response.

Akira nodded, moving away to give Ryuji some space. He looked a little stiff, probably already stressing over the prospect of not working so much, but Ryuji was sure it would help in the long run.

If it meant lessening Akira’s burdens, Ryuji would eat the rest of the hell curry with an extra pound of chilis.

“Should I help you clean this up before we head out then?” Ryuji heard Akira ask.

Which brought Ryuji to a realization.

The date wasn’t done yet!

“Actually dude, it’s not time to leave yet,” Ryuji said with newfound confidence.

Akira raised a questioning brow but stayed silent.

Ryuji moved quickly to retrieve the small portable speaker he’d been carrying all day, which he had thankfully left on shore during the boating incident. Turning it on, it quickly synced with his phone, which was good since this thing could be a bitch sometimes.

Ryuji placed the speaker on the ground at the base of the large tree they were situated next to, found the playlist labelled _Dancing Bullshit_ on his phone and pressed play. He still didn’t really know any of the songs that well, but they happened to have a beat similar to what he had practiced to, so they were good enough for Ryuji.

The music started playing and Ryuji put his phone down beside the speaker before finally turning to face Akira. Man was he ever lucky by how empty this park was today.

Taking a deep breath, Ryuji offered his arm to his boyfriend whose face was blank with confusion.

“May I have this dance?” Ryuji asked loudly, to avoid the hesitation he could feel at the back of his throat.

Akira seemed to freeze in place, leaving Ryuji hanging long enough to feel awkward but not long enough for him to pull back.

And then, with the brightest most beautiful smile Ryuji had ever seen, Akira took Ryuji’s arm. “I’d like nothing more.”

Ryuji took a second to move Akira’s hands into the right positions before starting to move to the beat of the music. They started off a little slow, and a little uncoordinated given Akira had never done this particular dance before (along with Ryuji’s general lack of coordination), but Akira was a crazy fast learner and picked up the pattern in only two minutes. Ryuji wasn’t sure whether he was secretly impressed or jealous.

But even with the slow start, Ryuji found it was going a million times smoother than any of his practices. Maybe it was the fact that his thoughts were less on the steps and more on the amazing person before him. It’d been just like Haru had said, to let go of the overthinking and just let his body move. And even better than that, instead of fearfully staring at his feet like before, Ryuji couldn’t look away from Akira.

The sun was starting to set in the sky, but it still provided enough light to see the soft expression on Akira’s face. The songs all seemed to blur together at this point, so Ryuji wasn’t sure whether they had begun replaying or not. Ryuji didn’t how long they danced together in comfortable silence, but it didn’t really matter to him.

“You’re incredible Ryuji,” Akira said out of nowhere, causing Ryuji to misstep and crush one of Akira’s feet with his own.

Ryuji attempted to pull away at that, but Akira held firmly onto Ryuji and laughed.

“I mean it though, I can’t believe you planned a slow dance at the local park as part of our date,” Akira said as the two continued to dance.

“I needed to make this thing special somehow,” Ryuji replied jokingly.

Akira didn’t seem too impressed with the response, so Ryuji continued before he could get scolded.

“Haru taught me actually, she’s a pretty awesome teacher.”

“Oh yeah? Well you did say earlier that the others helped. Did you really get everyone to pitch in?” Akira asked curiously.

It probably would have been cooler if Ryuji said he came up with most of it himself, but there was no way he was gonna steal the credit from his friends.

“Yeah, dude. Ann helped with the coffee shop, Yusuke with my clothes and dinner table, Makoto with the fishing and Futaba with the gift,” Ryuji explained.

“Gift?”

Shit. Well that’s another whoops for today.

“Uh… one second,” Ryuji said, pausing their movements. He reached into his back pocket where a small box was found.

He didn’t know how she’d guessed it, but Futaba had insisted Ryuji put the box in a Ziplock bag before he’d left because of how ‘_prone to stupidity he was’. _But the bag had definitely saved the present from suffering the wet fate he had.

Ryuji supposed Futaba was called Oracle for a reason.

“This is for you,” Ryuji said, handing Akira the gift, plastic bag and all.

“Ryuji you didn’t have to,” Akira said, taking the wrapped box in both hands, awe in his eyes.

“I wanted to,” Ryuji insisted. “And like I said, it was Futaba’s idea.”

Akira removed the box from the bag and opened the lid, revealing the silver locket within. It looked just like Ryuji had remembered when he had bought it, reassuring him that it hadn’t suffered any water damage.

“I never knew you had such an eye for jewelry,” Akira teased, but his voice held so much emotion that Ryuji couldn’t even take the teasing seriously.

“Do ya like it?” Ryuji asked, a little nervous despite himself.

“Ryuji, I absolutely love it,” Akira said softly, putting Ryuji’s beating heart at ease.

Akira took the locket in his hand and ran his hand over it, clicking the top when his thumb hovered over it. The locket then opened, revealing the first selfie Akira and Ryuji had taken together, with Ryuji smiling widely like an idiot with a stoic but amused looking Akira behind him.

Ryuji and Futaba had argued for a good hour over which picture to use, but Ryuji was not really the most photogenic person, so the options were limited. They settled with this one because of the nostalgia of it, since Ryuji would have preferred a photo where Akira was front and centre rather than him.

But the look on his boyfriend’s face told Ryuji that this choice had been the right one.

Akira opened his mouth to speak, but Ryuji shut it with his own before he could say anything. He wasn’t ready for anymore praise, and well, he just really wanted to kiss Akira.

Ryuji could feel Akira smile against his lips, which only made him smile in return. And while nothing had really gone as he’d wanted to today, this kiss, this feeling, was perfect in every way.

“I love you,” Ryuji said against Akira’s lips.

Akira gave him one last kiss before saying, “That’s my line.”

“I said it first.”

“Only because you cut me off before I could say it,” Akira fake whined.

Ryuji laughed at that, unable to contain all the happiness that he felt. He was still in shock that a date that had gone so wrong had turned out so right.

“Thanks again for today Ryuji, I’ll never forget it,” Akira said sincerely.

Ryuji wouldn’t be forgetting it for a long time either, especially since he knew he was going to have to re-tell all today’s events to his friends, embarrassing parts and all.

“I guess I’ll have to find a way to thank everyone else too,” Akira added, looking pensive.

Ryuji paled slightly at that. “Well if you wanna plan something, leave me outta it. I’ve had enough planning for my entire life, I dunno how ya do it all the time. I’ll just follow your lead, much more my style.”

“I don’t know Ryuji, with how well you did today, I might have to promote you to lead strategist,” Akira said, trying to sound serious but letting out a chuckle near the end.

“But then who would be your right-hand man?” Ryuji joked in reply.

Akira smiled before answering. “No one could ever replace you Ryuji.”

And with that, Ryuji decided that his heart was gonna explode from all the feelings going through it.

Feelings of happiness and love.

And more than anything else, the feeling of belonging.

Belonging next to Akira, alongside the rest of the phantom thieves who he could depend on just as much. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since the track team, and even then, that was nowhere close to the bond he felt with his friends now.

It almost made the idea of planning another date with everyone sound fun.

Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shout-out to all you lovely people out there! I had a great time writing for my favourite boys, and I hope you enjoyed too!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a one shot but quickly got way out of control.  
Thanks to everyone for reading!


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